About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 8. Education, Schooling

Paper #1
Relations Among Parents’ Experiences and Their Expectancy and Value for Children’s Math Achievement
Author information	Role
Siqi Zhang, Purdue University, United States	Presenting author
Suzanne Varnell, Purdue University, United States	Non-presenting author
Salvador R. Vazquez, Purdue University, United States	Non-presenting author
Angelina J. Joy, Purdue University, United States	Non-presenting author
Sarah H. Eason, Purdue University, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Expectancy value theory proposes that parents' child-specific beliefs inform how they engage in early math learning, and there is research supporting that these beliefs are a crucial component of the home math environment (Douglas et al., 2021; Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Zippert & Rittle-Johnson, 2020). While studies often assess parental beliefs based on expectations of children’s academic achievement or the importance of school readiness benchmarks, little is known about nuances between expectations and value, the scope of math achievement goals, and the sources of variation in those beliefs, such as parents’ own experiences with math or older children transitioning to elementary school (DeFlorio & Beliakoff, 2015; Hornburg et al., 2021; Zucker et al., 2021). This study aimed to clarify the structure of parents' math beliefs, specifically distinguishing between expectations for children’s math achievement goals and the value they place on those goals. Additionally, we examined how parents’ own math experiences and experiences with school transition jointly relate to their beliefs about their children’s math achievement. We hypothesized that parents’ beliefs would center on two key factors: basic mastery and advanced performance goals. Parents with strong math experiences were expected to have higher expectancy-value beliefs for those goals. Those whose preschoolers have older siblings in elementary school would display more accurate knowledge of age-appropriate math milestones and value preschoolers’ future math achievement more. The final sample included 572 U.S. parents of 3-5-year-old children, who completed a survey via Prolific during January 2024. Parents reported how well they expect their preschoolers to do (i.e., expectations) and how important it was to them that their preschoolers do well (i.e., value) regarding 10 performance- and mastery-oriented math goals in elementary school and later. Parents also responded to questions about their own math experiences, parenting experiences, knowledge of Common Core State Standards, perceptions of math utility, and their preschoolers' math abilities. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two distinct factors for both expectations and value, explaining 64.1%-68.9% of the variance (KMO=0.84-0.88, p<.001). Factor 1 reflected basic math goals (e.g., mastering school math), while Factor 2 focused on advanced goals (e.g., pursuing a STEM career). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed acceptable model fits, χ²(33)=180.86-313.38, p<.001; CFI=.92-.96; RMSEA=.085-.112. All factor loadings were significant, ranging from .66 to .96. Structural equation modeling emphasized the role of parents’ math experience in predicting both expectations and values directly and indirectly. While parents’ experience with school transitions (i.e., having elementary-aged children) was not significantly related to expectations, their ratings of preschoolers' abilities were the largest predictor (see Figure 1). For value, however, both paths of math experience and parenting experience were more influential, suggesting these factors were key to parents’ value-oriented beliefs about their child’s math achievement (see Figure 2). Interestingly, parents’ accuracy of beyond PreK math knowledge suppressed the relation between their parenting experience and the value of children’s future math achievement. These findings enrich expectancy-value theory and achievement goal theory, emphasizing the need for more nuanced assessments of parents' math beliefs, and informing how various experiences shape these beliefs.

Paper #2
From Math Activities to Math Homework: Perceived Context Attributes and Parents’ Involvement
Author information	Role
Jiawen Wu, University of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, United States	Presenting author
Eva Pomerantz, University of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Parents’ involvement in children’s math activities prior to children’s entry into elementary school plays an important role in children's early math development (e.g., Eason et al., 2022). Once children enter elementary school, however, parents’ involvement in children’s math homework often replaces their involvement in math activities (e.g., Huntsinger et al., 2016). This change in the context of parents’ involvement in children’s math learning may be detrimental for children as parents’ involvement in math homework (vs. activities) is often less constructive, which appears to undermine children’s math motivation, engagement, and learning (e.g., Wu et al., 2022). Although there has been speculation about why parents’ involvement is less constructive in the math homework (vs. activity) context (Wu et al., 2022), there is no research on this issue. Such research, however, is important as it can inform the design of math homework to optimize parents’ involvement. The aim of the current research was to identify if there are differences in the attributes of math homework and activities. The key hypothesis was that math homework (vs. activities) restricts choice in the difficulty level and type of math task on which children work and is more performance-oriented, which may lead parents to be more externally motivated to be involved, experience heightened pressure, which can lead to less constructive involvement that undermine children’s math learning (e.g., Grolnick, 2015). As an initial examination of these ideas and to ensure the measures we adapted or created for the research are internally reliable, we conducted a pilot study (N = 23 parents; 78% mothers; 56% Black and 39% White), with enough power to detect medium, but not small, effect sizes for a within-participant experimental design. We studied three math learning contexts: (1) math homework, (2) informal math activities (e.g., measuring for cooking or playing math-related games), and (3) formal activities (e.g., workbooks and flashcards). Using Likert rating scales, parents indicated how much each context allowed for choice in the difficulty level and type of math task and whether they felt the contexts was performance (vs. mastery) oriented. Parents’ external (vs. internal) motivation for involvement, experience of pressure, and negative (vs. positive) affect in each context were also assessed. Repeated-measure ANOVAs indicated that parents viewed math homework as providing less choice and being more performance-oriented than informal, but not formal, math activities (see Figure 1). These differences were paralleled by parents reporting more external motivation for their involvement and pressure in the homework than informal, but not formal, activity context (see Figure 2). Multilevel modeling nesting context within participants indicated that the more choice parents saw in each context and the less they felt performance-oriented, the less external motivation, pressure, and affectively negative involvement they reported (ts > 2.29, ps < .05). These findings suggest that math homework undermines parents' involvement experiences and practices because it provides relatively little choice and is performance oriented. To address the power limitations of the current sample, results from a larger sample (N = 200 parents) being collected will be presented.

Paper #3
Sapa Punchaw Yupay Yachay & Practicanapaq: Everyday Math Knowledge & Practice Among the Quechua Runa
Author information	Role
Jessica Huancacuri, New York University, United States	Presenting author
Catalina Rey-Guerra, New York University, United States	Non-presenting author
Gigliana Melzi, New York University, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Global colonization has led to the widespread erosion of Indigenous knowledge systems, including perspectives on child development and STEM learning. Although recent research highlights the value of Indigenous math knowledge and practices, previous research has focused on how these systems can be integrated into Western formal educational settings or as children transition into structured schooling environments (Vandendriessche & Pinxten, 2023). Aligned with work that recognizes the importance of cultural and everyday social factors in math development (Galindo et al., 2019), this study explored the everyday math-related knowledge systems and practices of Peruvian Quechua Runa everyday caregivers. The following two research questions guided the study: (1) What do caregivers think and feel about math?, and (2) How do caregivers believe math is acquired, learned, and transmitted? Participants were 56 caregivers (28 primary and 28 secondary) of children ages 2 to 11 from Abancayhome to the largest population of Quechua speakers in Peru. Caregivers ranged in age from 13 to 78 years old. Primary and secondary caregivers were selected for this study to capture a comprehensive view of the most direct influences on young children's math learning and development. Caregivers were interviewed in Spanish, using open-ended, semi-structured prompts. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and verified. Interview questions explored caregivers' beliefs about math, perceptions of math as part of everyday activities, and their role in supporting math learning. Data were analyzed using grounded theory, allowing authors to generate codes inductively. Preliminary findings suggest three themes showing how caregivers perceive math, and how they transmit math knowledge to their young children. The first theme identified beliefs about math and its everyday application, with most caregivers associating math with practical everyday activities. Caregivers consistently emphasized the role of math in day-to-day life, such as when determining change during transactions and budgeting for family needs. Math attitudes varied among caregivers, with some expressing enjoyment with informal math activities, such as making purchases at the store, and others reflecting negative experiences rooted in their own formal educational experiences with math. Caregivers acknowledged that math is vital for everyday life and children’s learning. The second theme described everyday math activities, with caregivers identifying when math is present in daily life, particularly in activities such as counting everyday household objects (e.g., beans and corn), measuring ingredients while cooking, going to the store and buying items, ​​and counting points in a soccer game with peers. The third theme described the home-school connections. Caregivers viewed their role in children’s math learning as a collaborative process between school and home, with caregivers reinforcing concepts introduced by teachers. The majority of caregivers viewed school as the primary source of math learning but recognized their role in reinforcing math skills at home. Analyses will include an exploration of the differences between primary and secondary caregivers. Findings will be discussed in relation to the diverse ways children’s math learning and development is supported within Indigenous families and communities, highlighting the need to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and doing into broader developmental and educational frameworks.

Paper #4
Exploring Black Parents' Values and Expectations for Their Preschoolers' Math Development
Author information	Role
Ashli-Ann Douglas, WestEd, United States	Presenting author
Yemimah King, Georgia State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
The parent socialization model posits that parents’ expectations and values regarding their children’s academic achievement shape their academic support which in turn impacts their children’s academic achievement (Eccles, 1993). Relatedly, a review found that parents’ numeracy-related beliefs about their children and themselves were positively related to their numeracy support (Douglas et al., 2021). However, most of these studies were conducted with White parents and little is known about Black parents’ expectations and values for their children’s early math development, including potential sources of these beliefs. The current study explored how Black parents’ experiences with and beliefs about learning mathematics as children might relate to their beliefs about preschool-aged children learning mathematics. One of two researchers interviewed 13 Black parents using a semi-structured interview protocol. The interview discussions were coded using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al., 2009). Parents’ demographics are reported in Table 1. Table 2 includes the present study’s interview questions and sample quotes. First, 54% of the parents reported that they enjoyed math or perceived themselves as good at math as they were growing up. Some of them linked their beliefs about math with their experiences doing math in school and at home and the importance their parents placed on math proficiency. Second, all of them believed it is important for their children to learn math in school and only two did not believe it is important for their children to learn math at home. When asked about the importance of her child practicing math at home, one parent shared, “It probably should be, but it's not”. When asked to expand, she gave several examples of the utility of math and shared that she doesn't want her child to struggle with math as she did and that she wants to support her child’s development of positive math beliefs (“I don't want to put her in that mindset that ‘Oh, you don't need math’. No, you need math…”). When asked what it was like learning math at home, she shared, “My mom was terrible at math too. So it's like I didn't have a chance”, suggesting that she recognizes the impact that parents can have on their children’s math development. The other parent who reported that it was not important for their child to practice math at home reported positive experiences learning math as a child including discussions with his parents who loved math. This parent reported that at his child’s current age, he valued her enjoying her art-related interests and play rather than academic skill development, and that “once she goes to school, and things are maybe forced upon her a little bit more in terms of you have to develop these skills for a grade, or to progress”, he will support her math development. The presentation will cover implications of these findings including resources that might be beneficial to parents.

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