J Afr Am St DOI 10.1007/s12111-013-9257-2 A RT I C L E S

Parenting and Cultural Socialization as Predictors of African American Children’s Science and Social Studies Achievement Claire E Baker

# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Abstract This study examined predictive relations between early parenting and African American children’s science and social studies achievement in kindergarten (n=2,461). Early parenting was defined as parents’ participation in home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading) and cultural socialization (e.g., discussing cultural heritage). Hierarchical regression analyses including early parenting and demographic characteristics explained nearly a quarter (i.e., 23 %) of the variance in African American children’s science and social studies achievement in kindergarten. Mother age, education, and family income positively predicted achievement while single-parent status and more siblings in the home negatively predicted achievement. Notably, even after these demographic controls were entered into the regression equations, parenting and cultural socialization also predicted achievement. African American parents who engaged in more frequent home learning stimulation and cultural socialization had children with more advanced science and social studies scores in kindergarten. Keywords Parenting . Cultural socialization . Science . Social studies . African American . ECLS-K The transition to elementary school represents an important milestone for young children and their parents. During the kindergarten year children are presented with new curricular challenges that emphasize competence in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies (Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta 2000). How children perform in these academic areas is largely dependent on early parenting and the quality of home learning environments (Baker et al. 2012). A substantial body of research indicates that early parenting practices are significantly associated with advances in children’s language, literacy, and mathematics outcomes (Burchinal et al. 2006; Melhuish et al. 2008.

C. E. Baker (*) School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 119 Peabody Hall #3500, Chapel Hill, NC, USA e-mail: [email protected]

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Researchers have also linked early parenting to children’s social–emotional development in pre-school and kindergarten (Downer and Pianta 2006; Fantuzzo et al. 2000; Fantuzzo et al. 2004). However, there is a paucity of early childhood research on the relation between early parenting and children’s elementary school science and social studies achievement. Even less is known about these associations in samples of socioeconomically diverse African American children because much of the research that has included African Americans has focused on low-income samples (e.g., Burchinal et al. 2006; Fantuzzo et al. 2004). This study takes a culturally responsive approach to examining parenting and academic achievement among low-, middle-, and high-income African American families with young children. The research focused on two important academic outcomes (i.e., science and social studies) that are significantly understudied in the early childhood literature. Further, this study extends previous conceptualizations of home learning stimulation to include cultural socialization practices. Cultural socialization is often defined as parental efforts to transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity, race, and culture to their young children (Caughy et al. 2003). Home learning stimulation is often defined as parental efforts to support children’s learning at home through participation in home-based learning activities such as shared book reading, telling stories, and playing counting games (Brooks-Gunn and Markman 2005; Caldwell et al. 1984). Home learning stimulation and cultural socialization have been independently linked to children’s early academic achievement (Burchinal et al. 2006; Caughy et al. 2003) and there is growing evidence that cultural socialization represents a unique extension of home learning stimulation in African American families with young children (Baker et al. 2012; Baker and Iruka in press; Caughy et al. 2003; Coard and Sellers 2005; Garcia Coll et al. 1996). However, to date, no studies have examined whether home learning stimulation and cultural socialization simultaneously contribute to early academic achievement. In light of the limitations of previous research, the primary aim of this study was to explore whether home learning stimulation and cultural socialization simultaneously contribute to African American children’s science and social studies achievement in kindergarten.

Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations Since the late 1990s, Garcia Coll et al. (1996) have called for more culturally responsive research emphasizing the role that race and culture play in shaping early parent–child interactions and child development. The goal of culturally responsive research is to provide a more comprehensive picture of child development in ethnic minority families. However, few studies have explored cultural socialization as a unique extension of home learning stimulation in ethnic minority families. Given the long-standing interest in improving the transition to kindergarten among African American children (e.g., Brooks-Gunn and Markman 2005; Haskins and Rouse 2005), it is important that researchers take a nuanced approach to studying the unique ecologies of ethnic minority families. As such, an Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children guides this study (Garcia Coll et al. 1996).

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This study is also guided by developmental-ecological theory, which contends that home environments represent the most proximal and influential system in the lives of young children (Bronfenbrenner 2005). The proximal processes of parenting provide children with their first guided learning experiences (e.g., shared book reading and discussions about race) that can enhance children’s potential for kindergarten success (Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta 2000). Developmental–ecological theory also suggests that learning and development are cumulative, interrelated processes that are largely dependent on demographic factors that also contribute to children’s academic outcomes. For example, the levels of risks (e.g., poverty) or resources (e.g., maternal education) that exist both proximally and distally exert a unique influence on children's daily lives and subsequent learning trajectories (McLoyd 1998).

Early Parenting and Academic Achievement Home Learning Stimulation Considerable research has demonstrated that early parenting is an important predictor of academic achievement throughout elementary school. Parents who support their children’s learning at home through participation in activities such shared book reading have children with better academic and social– emotional skills in preschool and kindergarten (Baker in press; Burchinal et al. 1997; Burchinal et al. 1996). Home learning stimulation is traditionally operationalized as parental involvement in parent–child reading, telling stories, playing counting games, singing songs, etc. Scholars contend that these activities encourage curiosity, build knowledge, and create a strong foundation for critical cognitive skills that promote kindergarten success (Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta 2000). There long-standing interest and debate about the role that home learning stimulation may play in decreasing racial disparities in early academic achievement. A review of the early childhood research reveals that home learning stimulation represents one way to reduce the achievement gap between black and white children (Haskins and Rouse 2005). For example, one investigation that used parent-report measures found that African American and Hispanic mothers were less likely to participate in home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading and talking to their children) than white mothers, which led to significant differences in their children’s kindergarten reading and math achievement (Brooks-Gunn and Markman 2005). Their study also showed that a significant portion (i.e., 50 %) of the achievement gap between white, black, and Latino students could be explained by differences in early parenting practices. Bradley et al. (2003) conducted a longitudinal study examining the links between parenting and achievement in a sample of white, black, and Hispanic children. They found that home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading and number of children’s books in the home) was positively related to children’s mathematics achievement from birth to age 13. LeFevre et al. (2009) examined mathematics skills in a sample of 146 children in kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. They found that home learning stimulation (e.g., playing board and card games) was positively related to children’s math skills. Research that has focused exclusively on African American children has yielded similar results. For example, Fantuzzo et al. (2004) used a small sample of mostly

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African American children enrolled in Head Start to examine the relation between multiple dimensions of early parenting (i.e., home-school conferencing, home-based involvement, and parent-school involvement) and child achievement. They found that African American mothers who engaged in more home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading at home and providing a place for educational activities) had children with more advanced vocabulary scores. Baker et al. (2012) used a nationally representative sample of African American children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to examine the relations between multiple dimensions of early parenting (i.e., warmth, home learning stimulation, and cultural socialization) and child achievement. They found that African American mothers who engaged in more frequent home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading) had children with more advanced reading and approaches to learning scores in kindergarten. More recently, Baker (in press) used a large nationally representative sample of two-parent African American families from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to examine African American fathers’ contribution to children’s preschool reading and math achievement. Data from that study showed that African American fathers who engaged in more frequent home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading, telling stories, and singing songs) had children with more advanced reading and math scores after controlling for mother characteristics and demographic risks. Literature supports the contention that early school success requires more than reading and math skills. However, very few studies have examined parenting in relation to children’s social studies achievement. In one exception, Christian et al. (1998) examined family-level predictors of early academic achievement in a large sample of white and African American children. They found that home learning stimulation was the most powerful predictor of children’s social studies achievement. There is some evidence that parenting is also related to science outcomes. Ratelle et al. (2005) used a large sample of adolescents to examine parenting in relation to students’ science persistence. They found that parental involvement and support was positively related to students’ persistence in science. George and Kaplan (1998) used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988 to examine parent and teacher influences on the science attitudes of 8th graders. Data from their study showed that parenting had a significant direct and indirect effect on children’s attitudes towards science. Cultural Socialization There is growing evidence that home learning stimulation in African American families often features practices that are related to race, ethnicity, culture, and religion, which are also important predictors of early academic achievement (Caughy et al. 2003; Caughy et al. 2006; Caughy et al. 2002). National studies have shown that African American parents with young children are more likely engage their children in discussions about their cultural heritage and participate in cultural events than non-African American parents (Baker et al. 2012). Research documents that African American parents who engage cultural socialization have children with better academic achievement outcomes compared to parents who do not engage in these practices (Wang and Huguley 2012). In one study, Wang and Huguley (2012) examined the relation between cultural socialization and academic achievement in a sample of African American high school

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students. They found that African American students with parents who engaged in more cultural socialization (i.e., discussions about racial heritage and pride) had better academic achievement scores than students with parents who did not engage in these practices. There are very few studies that have examined the relation between cultural socialization and early school achievement. In one exception, Caughy et al. (2003) found that home-based cultural socialization practices (e.g., discussions about racial heritage) were related to greater factual knowledge and better problem solving skills among African American preschoolers. In addition, African American mothers who socialized their preschool children to be proud of their heritage also reported fewer problem behaviors. Taken together, research demonstrates that home learning stimulation and cultural socialization are independently related to African American children’s academic achievement. However, most of the prior work has treated home learning stimulation and cultural socialization as separate constructs rather than acknowledging that cultural socialization represents a unique extension of home learning stimulation in African American families. The synergy between home learning stimulation and cultural socialization are particularly important to investigate given that both have been linked to the positive development of African American children. The empirical oversight of these co-occurring processes in the larger literature merits an investigation of the unique relations between parenting, cultural socialization, and early academic achievement. Therefore, this study used guidelines from previous parenting research (e.g., Caughy, et al. 2003; Fantuzzo et al. 2004) to create and a composite measure of parenting and cultural socialization in African American families. This measure combined aspects of home learning stimulation and cultural socialization. Preliminary internal consistency tests revealed that the combination of these items lead to a reliable and valid measure of parents’ involvement in educational activities in their home (α=.78). This approach to measuring parenting in African American families allowed for a cultural responsive approach to studying the unique ecologies of African American homes.

Demographic Risk Factors and Child Achievement Developmental–ecological theory posits that characteristics of the child, family, and neighborhood may influence early parenting as well as student achievement (Bronfenbrenner 2005). Empirical research has linked characteristics of the family such as parents’ age, parents’ education, and family income to early parenting and student achievement (Duncan and Brooks-Gunn 2000). On average, children from low-wealth families with less educated mothers are more likely to demonstrate poorer academic outcomes (McLoyd 1998). In addition, children who are reared in unsafe neighborhoods and single-parent homes tend to demonstrate more academic difficulty that children from two-parent families who are reared in safer communities (Brooks-Gunn et al. 1993; Ceballo and McLoyd 2002). Studies that have focused specifically on kindergarten have shown that younger mothers tend to have less social capital and fewer years of formal education, which negatively predicts student achievement (Baker and Iruka in press; Brooks-Gunn and Markman 2005).

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The consensus in the developmental literature is that children who are exposed to more demographic risks are, on average, at a higher risk for negative educational outcomes. The literature also suggests that positive parenting has the potential to decrease these negative effects. It is important that developmental research understand the diversity of factors that may attenuate or strengthen the capacity of African American children to succeed in school. This kind of research has implications for public policies that seek to enhance school readiness, ameliorate the black–white achievement gap, increase high school graduation rates, and improve college performance. Thus, in addition to examining the contribution of parenting and cultural socialization, the present study controlled for five demographic characteristics that have been linked to early parenting and student achievement (i.e., maternal education, family income, maternal age, neighborhood quality, and family structure).

The Importance of Science and Social Studies Achievement The primary goal of the American education system is to create a new generation of globally competitive citizens. One of the areas where America is still struggling to become competitive with other countries is in the area of science education and achievement. For example, a 2009 study showed that US students ranked 25th among 34 countries in math and science, behind nations like China, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Finland (Hechinger 2010). Further, data from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed that less than one-half of American students perform at or above proficiency level in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade science. Of particular concern for American educators are the gaps in science achievement that exist between black and white students. In 2011, white 8th graders scored 83 points higher in science than black students and 60 points higher than Hispanic students (Duncan 2012). Scholars contend that one of the key causes of this achievement gap is the lack of empirical research that has examined salient predictors of African American children’s science outcomes (Lewis 2003). Furthermore, the achievement gap has been cited as one of the leading causes of the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in science and science-related careers (Lewis 2003). Given the vital role that science and technology play in stimulating innovation and economic growth, it is especially important that researchers examine pathways to better science outcomes for ethnic minority children. It is equally important that researchers explore other aspects of early academic achievement that are important for creating globally competent citizens (including social studies achievement). The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) suggests that elementary school social studies (i.e., civics, economics, geography, and historical knowledge) is important for creating citizens who can fully participate in their local, state, and global communities. Given the literature that calls for integrative ecological models of development for ethnic minority children (Garcia Coll et al. 1996) and the large body of research that has focused exclusively on reading and math, there is a need for research that examines other dimensions early academic achievement.

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This study examined parenting and cultural socialization as predictors of African American children’s science and social studies achievement. The following two research questions guided this study. First, is there a significant relationship between demographic characteristics, parenting, and African American children’s science and social studies achievement? Second, does early parenting predict science and social studies achievement after controlling for demographic risks? It was hypothesized that early parenting would predict science and social studies achievement above and beyond the contribution of demographic risk factors.

Method Participants and Design Data for the current study were collected from children, families, and teachers who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998– 1999 (ECLS-K). The National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) sponsored the study. The ECLS-K collected data from participants using a multistage probability sampling design. Thus, the ECLS-K included a nationally representative sample of about 21,000 kindergarteners in over 1,000 schools. The present study used data from the first two waves of data collection (fall 1998 and spring 1999). Independent and dependent variables for this study were taken from direct child assessments and parent interviews. During the fall and spring of kindergarten year, the ECLS-K collected data from the each child’s caregiver through both a computer-assisted questionnaire and a self-administered questionnaire. In more than 90 % of cases, the child’s primary caregiver was the child’s mother or female guardian (Rock and Pollack 2002). Analysis Sample The primary goal of this study was to investigate science and social studies achievement exclusively among African American children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Therefore, only children of African descent (race identified by mothers) were extracted from the entire sample. Table 1 presents means and standard deviations for all variables in this study. Measures Dependent Variable: Science and Social Studies Achievement The ECLS-K’s general knowledge achievement test was used to tests children’s knowledge of natural sciences and social studies. For the science portion of the battery, subject matter was evenly divided between earth science, space science, physical science, and life science. Kindergarten earth and space science is principally concerned with questions about the relationship between the earth and other bodies in space (e.g., patterns of night and day, and the seasons). Physical science includes matter and energy and their transformations, and motion. Life science questions pertain globally to nature, more specifically to interdependence, adaptation, ecology, and the health of the human body.

J Afr Am St Table 1 Correlation matrix for analysis predicting science and social studies achievement (n=2,461) 1

2

3

1. Child age in months

1.00

2. Child gender

−.03 1.00

3. Mother age

4

7

8

4. Mother education

.05

.01 −.05 1.00

5. Family income

.09 −.02 −.08

10

Mean (SD)

−.03 −.03 −.19

31.93 (8.17) 3.83 (1.48)

.32 1.00

1.59 (.49)

.14

.34 1.00 .26

.56 (.50)

.07

.00

.07

.17

8. Neighborhood safety

−.03

.02

.05

.15 −.20 −.14 −.08 1.00

9. Home learning

−.02 −.03

.01

.12 −.10 −.04

.24 −.03

.12

.18

10. Science/social studies

9

1.51 (.50)

.03 1.00

7. Number of siblings

6

67.83 (4.02)

.02

6. Family type

5

-.08 1.00 .03

.27 −.18 −.14

1.54 (1.35) 2.49 (.58)

.06 1.00 .12

32.13 (5.53)

.13 1.00 21.96 (6.82)

Bolded estimates are significant at the .05 level

The social studies portion of the test includes items related to history, government, culture, geography, and economics. However, the majority of items are related to culture (50 items in kindergarten) and geography (20 items in kindergarten). The culture questions include a number of questions about everyday objects and their uses (e.g., what do trains and planes have in common?) and social roles (e.g., what does a fireman do?). The test reliabilities for the kindergarten general knowledge test were .88. Notably, differential item functioning indicated that few items or groups of items behaved differently by race, class, or gender. These results suggest that the kindergarten general knowledge test is not biased against different ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic groups (National Center for Education Statistics 2002). Independent Variables: Early Parenting All parenting behaviors were measured with items from the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale (Caldwell et al. 1984). The goal of this study was to understand whether traditionally and non-traditionally studied aspects of home learning stimulation may be related to African American children’s science and social studies achievement. Thus, parenting was measured using an average/mean of 12 items that measured the frequency (1= never to 4=everyday, α=.78) of parents’ participation in home learning stimulation and culturally socialization practices related to learning at home. The specific parenting items were as follows (1) how often do you read to your child, (2) tell your child stories, (3) sing songs with your child, (4) help your child do art, (5) play counting games with your child, (6) teach your child about nature, (7) teach your child how to build things, (8) play sports with your child, (9) require your child to do chores, (10) participate in cultural events with your child, (11) discuss ethnic/racial heritage with your child, and (12) discuss cultural or family religious beliefs with your child. The selection of specific parenting items in this study was consistent with previous research on parenting and cultural socialization in African American families (Baker et al. 2012; Baker and Iruka in press; Caughy et al. 2003; Fantuzzo et al. 2004).

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Demographic Characteristics Seven child and demographic characteristics were included as controls in the model. Family income was a binary variable with a value of (1=below the poverty line and or 2=at or above the poverty). Family structure dummy coded variable (0=single-parent family, 1=two-parent family). Mothers’ education was an ordinal variable ranging from (1=less than a high school education through 8=graduate degree). Neighborhood safety (i.e., How safe to play outside?) was an ordinal variable ranging from (1=very safe neighborhood to 3=very unsafe neighborhood). Mother’s age was a continuous variable. Further, two child characteristics were included as controls in the models, namely age at kindergarten entry (continuous variable), gender (dummy coded variable, 1=male and 2=female). Analytic Strategy A four step approach was used to analyze data in this study. First, only child and parent data collected during the fall and spring of kindergarten were used in the analyses (fall 1998 and spring 1999). In addition, data were limited to children who were first time kindergarteners. Second, Little’s MCAR test was used to examine missing data patterns. Little's MCAR test is implemented as a chi-squared test in SPSS 19.0 with the null hypothesis that missing data is MCAR (Little and Rubin 1989). Third, based on non-significant findings from Little’s MCAR test, which revealed that missing data in our sample ranged from 1 to 6 %, missing data were accounted for using multiple imputation procedures in SPSS 19.0. SPSS 19.0 uses full conditional specification to impute each variable with missing values then uses the imputed values in the imputation of other variables (Enders 2001). Multiple imputation has been shown to be superior to other missing data techniques (e.g., mean imputation and listwise deletion) in terms of aspects of model estimation, bias, and efficacy (Peugh and Enders 2004; Enders 2001). The multiple imputation procedure resulted in five plausible data sets that were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 software. Fourth, to determine whether early parenting predicted African American children’s science and studies achievement above and beyond demographic characteristics, a hierarchical regression model was examined controlling for child and demographic characteristics in SPSS 19.0.

Results Preliminary Analyses To address our first research question, zero-order correlations, means, and standard deviations were examined prior to running the regression analysis. Results of these analyses are presented in Table 1. As hypothesized, most of the demographic factors were significantly related to children’s science and social studies achievement. Specifically, child age, maternal age, and maternal education were positively related to children’s science and social studies scores in kindergarten. When child age, mother age, and mothers’ education increased science and social studies scores also increased. Reciprocally, family type and number of siblings were negatively related to children’s science and social

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studies scores. Living in single-parent families with more siblings was negatively associated with science and social studies achievement. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting Science and Social Studies Achievement Science and Social Studies The hierarchical regression model including all predictors and demographic control variables, accounted for 23 % of the variance in children’s kindergarten science and social studies achievement (F=60.90, p=.000). Child characteristics were entered into Step 1. Child age was positively related to children’s science and social studies scores with older children demonstrating more advanced scores than younger children (β=.24, p=.000). Child gender was not significantly related to children’s science and social studies scores. Demographic characteristics were entered into Step 2 and significantly contributed to the model, accounting for an additional 15 % of the variance in children’s science and social studies scores (ΔR2 F=59.85, p=.000). Specifically, children with older mothers (β=.06, p=.004) demonstrated more advanced science and social studies scores. Reciprocally, children from single-parent families (β=−.08, p=.001), living below the poverty line (β=−.23, p=.000), with mothers who had less education (β=.−11, p=.000), and more siblings living in their household (β=−.12, p=.000) demonstrated less-advanced science and social studies scores compared to children who were not exposed to these demographic factors. The addition of home learning stimulation/culture in Step 3 significantly contributed to the model predicting science and social studies scores, accounting for an additional 2 % of the variance in children’s science and social studies scores (ΔR2 F= 55.45, p=.000). Specifically, parents who engaged in more frequent home learning and cultural socialization had children with more advanced science and social studies scores (β=.09, p=.000). Table 2 presents results of the hierarchical regression predicting science and social studies achievement. Table 2 Summary of hierarchical regression analysis predicting science and social studies achievement (n=2,461) B

SE B

β

Step 1: child characteristics Child age in months Child gender

0.04

−0.27

0.29

0.24** −0.02

Mother age

0.06

0.02

0.07**

Mother education

1.06

0.10

0.23**

Family income

1.76

0.33

0.13**

Family type

−0.52

0.12

−0.10**

Number of siblings

−0.61

0.11

−0.12**

0.45

0.24

−0.04

0.11

0.24

Step 3: early parenting Home learning and culture ∗p<.05; ∗∗p<.01

R2 Δ

0.05 0.41

Step 2: demographic characteristics

Neighborhood safety

R2

0.09**

0.21

0.15

0.23

0.02

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Discussion The primary goal of this study was to determine whether parenting and cultural socialization predicted African American children’s science and social studies achievement in kindergarten. This is an important, yet understudied topic in the early childhood literature. Findings suggest that within socioeconomically diverse African American families home learning stimulation that is inclusive of cultural socialization practices may be meaningful in understanding children’s early academic achievement. Specifically, African American parents who reported more frequent participation in traditionally studied measures of home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading) and non-traditionally studied measures of home learning stimulation (e.g., discussions about cultural heritage) had children with better science and social studies scores in kindergarten. The positive relationship between parenting, science, and social studies persisted even after controlling for measures of family income, maternal education, and neighborhood quality. Several explanations for these findings are evident. First, when children are very young the family serves as the major context for learning new skills and information. This study focused on kindergarten children whose primary exposure to educational activities occurred in their homes. Findings from this study linking parenting and cultural socialization to academic achievement support a long-standing contention in the developmental research. That is, parents who engage in more educational activities in their homes have children with more optimal academic outcomes in kindergarten (Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta 2000). Second, one of the primary goals of parenting in African American families is to prepare children to recognize how their race and ethnicity may influence how they are treated within the larger society (Coard et al. 2007). As a result, African American parents often engage in mainstream and minority parenting practices (Coard and Sellers 2005). Mainstream parenting practices focus on promoting the goals, values, and influences of the dominant culture (i.e., white, middle class) and minority parenting practices focus on promoting the goals, values, and influences of ethnic minority culture (i.e., African American heritage). For African American families in this study, engaging in both mainstream and minority parenting practices appears to have been supportive of children’s science and social studies achievement. Third, the present findings are line with previous research that has focused on white, middle class families. These studies have linked traditional measures of home learning stimulation (e.g., parent–child reading) to more advanced language, literacy, and math outcomes (e.g., Senechal and Lefevre 2002; Lefevre et al. 2009). The present findings extend their research and provide some empirical evidence that home learning stimulation combined with cultural socialization can contribute to the positive development of African American children during early childhood. There is some evidence that African American families parent their children differently than white, middle class families and these variations in parenting (e.g., cultural socialization) may be associated with gains in general factual knowledge during early childhood. Therefore, there is a need for more research that explores the unique ecologies of African American families in relation to school achievement and performance. For example, Coard and Sellers (2005) posit that African American parents teach their children to understand social, economic, and political forces that

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lead to racial equality and inequality (i.e., cultural socialization). This information is especially important for kindergarten social studies success because social studies tests in kindergarten consist of items that measure children’s knowledge of political, cultural, and economic issues (National Center for Education Statistics 2002). Further, Caughy et al. (2003) found that cultural socialization practices (e.g., discussions about racial heritage) were related to greater factual knowledge and better problem solving skills among African American preschoolers. Christian et al. (1998) linked home learning stimulation children’s reading and social studies achievement. In this study, home learning stimulation and cultural socialization simultaneously predicted science and social studies knowledge in kindergarten. The present findings speak to the need to conceptualize parenting more broadly in ethnic minority families. As demonstrated in this study, defining parenting more broadly may provide a more thorough understanding about how to promote the academic achievement of children from ethnic minority families. For example, Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies Program, a parent-training program that incorporates mainstream and minority parenting strategies has been linked to the positive development of African American children (Coard et al. 2007). Data from this study point to the positive potential of these kinds of training programs and suggests that research should continue to explore the unique ecologies of ethnic minority families in relation to other areas of academic achievement (i.e., reading and mathematics). Because younger children spend the bulk of their time at home, future research could also examine whether the positive relation between parenting, science, and social studies persists as children become older and spend less time learning in their homes (i.e., during the transition to middle school). Given the long-standing interest in increasing minority participation in the STEM fields (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), it is important to consider the findings linking parenting to children’s science achievement. This finding is not surprising given the diversity of the items measuring parenting in this study. For example, one of the parenting items asked parents to report how often they taught their child about nature. This is especially important because part of kindergarten life science (measured in this study) pertained globally to nature and its functions. It is possible that parents who teach their children about natural science are just as likely to teach their children about other aspects of science (including earth and life science), which can promote science knowledge and achievement in kindergarten. These findings are in line with the theoretical and conceptual framework that guides this study. Specifically, developmental–ecological theory suggests that parents are the first educators of their young children and parental involvement in educational activities in their home can positively contribute to academic achievement in a variety of areas. Further, Garcia Coll et al. (1996) highlight the importance of research models that incorporate the unique developmental contexts of ethnic minority children. Findings from this study help to alleviate the paucity of empirical research that has examined early predictors of African American children’s science and social studies achievement. Future research can aid this understanding by developing better measures of parenting and cultural socialization in ethnic minority families. Particularly important will be future effort to develop, test, and validate measures of cultural socialization that can be used in future large, nationally representative data collection efforts.

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It is also noteworthy that several demographic factors contributed to parenting, science, and social studies. While relations between demographic variables and parenting were largely non-significant, there was a significant positive relation between maternal education and home learning stimulation. Further, maternal education, age, family income, and number of siblings all significantly contributed to children’s science and social studies achievement. These findings are in line with developmental research that has shown that how African American children perform in kindergarten is influenced by demographic characteristics. For example, Baker and Iruka (in press) found that African American parents with more education and higher family incomes had children with better reading and math scores in kindergarten. It is plausible that parents with more years of formal education have more knowledge about science and social studies due to their education and training. It is also likely that higher family incomes help parents gain greater access to social capital and resources that can aid in the academic achievement of their young children. For example, research has shown that high-income parents are more likely to provide their children with more educational materials (e.g., children’s books) in their homes than low-income parents (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005). Limitations and Future Directions Although this study provided empirical evidence that African American parents contribute to children’s science and social studies achievement, some limitations merit mention. First, this study used parent-report surveys to measure key independent variables (i.e., home learning stimulation and cultural socialization). Information provided by parents does not provide a comprehensive picture of parenting practices that may be associated with the development of academic competence among children in kindergarten. Future research should utilize qualitative observations of parenting practices. Qualitative data may provide a different and unique picture of parenting and parent–child interactions not apparent in quantitative, parent-report data. That is, the current study was only able to consider information obtained from parent assessments of the frequency of their parenting behaviors with their children and it is possible that these measures suffer from social desirability. Further, this study did not include measures of parenting from independent evaluators (e.g., teachers). As such, this study was unable to provide non-biased, independent measures of parenting in African American families. Relatedly, the questions tapping home learning stimulation and cultural socialization were selected by the developers of the ECLS-K and were limited to 12 items. The findings linking these practices to science and social studies achievement points to a need to take a nuanced approach to measuring parenting and cultural socialization in order to more comprehensively capture its relation to academic achievement. Finally, the developers of the ECLS-K measured science and social studies achievement as a joint construct called general knowledge. Future research with African American children should focus on identifying specific aspects of parenting (e.g., teaching child about nature) that may be related to specific dimensions of science achievement (e.g., earth science) and specific dimensions of social studies achievement (e.g., geography).

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Implications Policy shifts over the past few years reflect the field’s growing interest in promoting preschool and kindergarten science skills. A number of states now highlight preschool science as a key area of children’s school readiness (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Despite the field’s interest in promoting early science achievement, children demonstrate considerably low proficiency in science at school entry and show continuous declines in science achievement as they persist through school (Greenfield et al. 2009). For example, Greenfield et al. (2009) found that Head Start children enter preschool with low science skills, and show the least improvement in science across the school year when compared to seven other domains of school readiness including reading and math. This study indicates early parenting has the potential to positively contribute to African American children’s science achievement in kindergarten. Therefore, there is need for more home-based intervention programs that seek to enhance children’s science achievement through culturally responsive parent training programs. Successful parent training programs have the potential increase minority participation and persistence in the STEM fields. Relatedly, social studies achievement is often overlooked in the larger literature. Scholars contend that social studies is especially important for creating citizens who can fully participate in their local, state, and global communities. Historically, African Americans have been locked out of participation in political institutions that affect their lives. As such, it is especially important that young African American children gain the necessary knowledge and skills that are required to become agents for political change and progress. Findings from this suggest that parents represent one mechanism by which children can grow and learn in this area. References Baker, C.E. (in press). African American fathers contributions to children’s early academic achievement: Evidence from two-parent families from the ECLS-B. Early Education and Development. Baker, C.E. & Iruka, I.U. (in press). Maternal psychological functioning and children’s school readiness: The mediating role of home environments for African American children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Baker, C. E., Cameron, C. E., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Grissmer, D. (2012). Family and sociodemographic predictors of school readiness among African American boys in kindergarten. Early Education and Development, 23, 833–854. Bradley, R. H., Corwyn, R. F., Burchinal, M., McAdoo, H. P., & García Coll, C. (2003). The home environments of children in the United States Part II: relations with behavioral development through age thirteen. Child Development, 72, 1868–1886. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). The bioecological theory of human development. In U. Bronfenbrenner (Ed.), Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 3–15). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Brooks-Gunn, J., & Markman, L. B. (2005). The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. The Future of Children, 15, 139–168. Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., Klebanov, P. K., & Sealand, N. (1993). Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent development? The American Journal of Sociology, 99, 353–395. Burchinal, M. R., Follmer, A., & Bryant, D. M. (1996). The relations of maternal social support and family structure with maternal responsiveness and child outcomes among African American families. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1073–1083.

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