Parent engagement in early care and education settings: relationship with engagement practices and child, parent, and centre characteristics

Christina A. Cutshaw is an Assistant Professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and affiliate faculty in Family Studies and Human Development at the University of Arizona. Dr. Cutshaw’s research focuses on mental health, physical health conditions and educational outcomes, particularly in early care and education settings. Dr. Cutshaw is also Director of Health and Public Policy at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Ann M. Mastergeorge is the Department Chair of Human Development and Family Studies at Texas Tech University and holds the Rockwell Endowed Professorship in the Department. Dr. Mastergeorge directs the Research in Early Developmental Studies (RED) Lab at TTU. Her research areas of expertise and are in typical and atypical development of young children, including: typical development in social attention and joint attention; prevention and early intervention for young children with autism (including early indicators of autism and autism risk); parent-mediated interventions and parent-child interaction; and understanding ‘at-risk’ development and resilience indicators and mediators of development. In addition, many of her research projects focus on partnering in communities, and collaborating across disciplines to examine

Melissa A. Barnett is an Associate Professor of Family Studies and Human Development and the Norton Endowed Chair in Fathers, Parenting and Families in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Arizona. She is the Director of the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families. Dr. Barnett’s program of research focuses on identifying family, relational or contextual assets that support positive development for young children and families experiencing adversity such as poverty. This work includes a focus on the roles multiple caregivers (i.e., mothers, fathers, grandmothers, early childhood educators).

Katherine W. Paschall is a Research Scientist II in Early Childhood Development at Child Trends. Dr. Paschall’s research program focuses on understanding and supporting the adults in the lives of young children, including early care and education providers, parents, grandparents, and other family members. Dr. Paschall’s research utilizes large secondary datasets to understand risk and protective factors that predict caregiver and parent mental health, caregiving behaviors, and other key drivers of early childhood well-being. Dr. Paschall’s work applied advanced quantitative methods, including structural equational modeling, mixture modeling, causal inference analyses, and time-varying effect models. She earned her PhD in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona.