Development and Test of a Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire

Abstract

This study reports the development and initial test of the first measure of summer family involvement—the Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire. Items for the questionnaire were developed to reflect each of Epstein’s six types of parental involvement. Data were collected to test the usefulness of the questionnaire from 55 parents at a school-based summer enrichment program for students in the Northeast, U.S. The responses indicated that parents prioritized summer learning and provided a space in the home for children’s summer learning activities. They also suggested that parents focused mainly on their children’s summer reading activities. The findings support the usefulness of the questionnaire as a measure of family engagement during the summer months. Future research will be needed with larger and more diverse samples to permit more rigorous data analyses, including factor analysis to identify subscales and stronger measures of reliability and validity on the importantmeasure of family engagement during the summer months of a school year.

1. Introduction

The United States education system generally follows a time schedule for kindergarten through 12th grade in which students attend school for nine months. Students have three months in the summer during which they may not engage in active learning or review previous learning. Due to a lack of academic engagement, research has demonstrated a decline or leveling of students’ achievement test scores during the summer months. This issue is termed “summer learning loss” or “summer slide” (Hobbs and Overby 2019). This involves the loss of knowledge acquired during the school year (Gierczyk and Hornby 2023).

There has been extensive research that reports varying results on the extent of learning loss among students during the summer months. Cooper et al.’s (1996) meta-analysis found that, on average, summer learning loss is the equivalent of about one month of learning, but that negative effects increased as students progressed through school. Additionally, Sandberg Patton and Reschly (2013) found that students in grades 2 and 3 (but not 4 and 5) showed a loss in oral reading frequency during the summer months. There is generally a greater loss in learning over the summer in math than in reading. Students from middle and low income familiesdemonstrated similar losses in math over the summer, as an example of a greater loss in math than reading (Hobbs and Overby 2019). Students may lose two months of math learning over the summer to quantify the extent of this loss (Cooper et al. 1996; Munro 2022). The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (Smith 2011) listed summer learning loss as one of the three most significant barriers to reading proficiency by the end of third grade.

Summer learning loss and its remediation, cost schools approximately USD 18,000 per student, on average, across a student’s time in elementary, middle, and high school in the United States in 2010 (Smith 2011). The 3-month break from structured learning can result in significant setbacks, particularly in reading and math skills, making it difficult for students to regain lost knowledge at the start of each school year. These academic setbacks necessitate costly remediation efforts, increasing the financial burden on schools. Given the cumulative impact of these losses, students who fall behind each summer may require more extensive interventions over time, further straining educational resources (Brookings Institution 2017). The consequences of summer learning loss are particularly concerning for students from low-income backgrounds, who often have limited access to enrichment activities that could mitigate the effects of the summer slide (AERA 2020). Without targeted interventions, the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students continues to widen, reinforcing long-term disparities in educational outcomes.

However, out-of-school time during the three months of summer may be productive with purposeful parental involvement. While summer vacation gives students time to rest, it also is possible that some time invested in informal learning combined with guided family engagement could prevent or reduce learning loss that limits students’ progress at the start of each school year.

Outside of school during the summer months, parent involvement may play a significant role in facilitating student learning, such as helping to prevent significant reading loss (Kim and Quinn 2013). Schools can help prevent summer learning loss by providing clear and enjoyable reading activities for families to conduct with their children (Munro 2022). Other research demonstrated that parents reading with their children using structured summer reading programs improved students’ reading achievement and the number of books read during the summer (Kim and White 2008; Zambrana et al. 2019). Additionally, educating parents to tutor their own children using structured reading programs over the summer significantly improved students’ reading achievement (Mitchell and Begeny 2014). A summer text messaging program that gave parents ideas to encourage students to read and practice reading skills during the summer resulted in positive effects on reading comprehension for third and fourth (but not first and second) graders (Kraft and Monti-Nussbaum 2017). Parents may also be engaged in summer programs through activities such as an informational welcoming lunch at the beginning of the program and a closing celebration (Smith 2011).

Many parents are employed during the summer months, which means that children need other care and learning opportunities outside of direct parent supervision. Some students participate in summer school learning and/or enrichment programs over the summer months. These programs may focus on traditional academic subjects as well as enrichment activities, such as baking, planting, and field trips. These programs may or may not engage parents through volunteering, communicating with teachers, and reinforcing students’ skills at home. Volunteering may only be possible for parents who are employed during the school day. Other activities involving parents may take place in the evening or on weekends, such as reading books with children and working on art projects.

Davison et al. (2024) noted that effective summer programs must prioritize communication with families, including parent information sessions, conferences, or daily text messages. Family engagement during summer programs can inform parents regarding their child’s academic achievement as well as any difficulties they are encountering in the summer program. Summer enrichment programs may be most successful when they include academic activities and other enrichment activities, such as field trips (Bell and Carrillo 2007).

Summer enrichment programs have increased student learning. Burgin and Hughes (2008) found that a summer literacy program produced statistically significant improvements in writing for kindergarten, third-grade, and fourth-grade students. Further, Borman et al. (2009) found significant effects of a literacy and fine arts summer learning camp for kindergarteners on reading measures. Hobbs and Overby (2019) found that providing computer-assisted literacy instruction in the home during the summer months prevented summer learning loss between kindergarten and first grade.

2. Framework for Questionnaire Development

Epstein et al. (2019) identified six types of parent involvement that were the foundation for the development of this project’s new questionnaire. The typology emerged from many studies reflects the underlying theory of overlapping spheres of influence (Epstein 1987). This theory posits different types how family, school, and community could work together to influence the child’s education. Type 1—Parenting includes parental involvement in preparing an adequate space for learning in the home, during the summer months. It also refers to providing appropriate reinforcement and structure for learning activities. Type 2 involves communicating with parents, including the communications that teachers and directors of summer enrichment programs have about the program and children’s work and progress. Communication can take such forms as parent–teacher conferences, phone calls, text messages, or speaking with parents when they pick up or drop off their child. Type 3—Volunteering highlights the importance of parental contributions and services, which may include volunteering in summer enrichment program activities, such as field trips. Parents can also support classroom activities, such as baking or art projects. Type 4—Learning at home includes parents’ interactions with their children to facilitate learning in academic activities and on homework in math, reading, science, and art during the school year and during the summer. Parents can reinforce summer program learning by reading books with children, involving children in science-related activities such as planting and gardening, and working on painting or drawing projects with them. Type 5—Decision Making involves parental involvement in advocacy and school governance through such groups as the Parent–Teacher Association. This type of involvement may not be as relevant during the summer months, as major decisions are typically made during the school year. Type 6—Collaboration with the Community includes parents taking their children to educational venues during the summer, such as the library and museums. This research also aligns with Vygotsky (1978)’s sociocultural theory. This theory states that parents scaffold learning through guided participation and enriched environments. This theory aligns with research demonstrating that structured parent involvement in summer activities improves developmental outcomes (Kim and Quinn 2013).

Despite the significance of summer learning loss and the role parents can play in limiting this loss, there is no measure that assesses parent involvement during the summer months. This study addresses this gap by reporting on the development and testing of a questionnaire to measure parents’ participation in school-based summer enrichment programs and in home-based activities during the summer. This includes parent engagement with children in summer reading, math, science, and art activities and on field trips. We examined parents’ responses to two iterations of questionnaire development to explore three research questions:

• How did parents view the importance of different types of summer parent involvement activities?
• How was parent participation in one type of involvement activity associated with their participation in other parental involvement activities?
• How parents create a space for learning in the home during the summer?

3. Methods

3.1. Questionnaire

The authors tested the first version of the Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire in the summer of 2022. This was an 18-item measure with questions on at-home family involvement in math, summer reading, science, and art. It also probed parent involvement in the school’s summer enrichment program, such as communicating with teachers, reinforcing learning at home, receiving information from the program, and volunteering in program activities. The measure asked about family participation in enrichment activities such as going to the library and museums during the summer. It also assessed whether parents created a learning environment at home and placed a priority on the child’s learning during the summer.

The initial questionnaire was scored on a four-point Likert scale, where 4 = Strongly Agree, 3 = Agree, 2 = Disagree, and 1 = Strongly Disagree. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the first version of the questionnaire was 0.951. Two items were added to the 2023 version of the questionnaire to address whether parents worked with children on homework and participated in school field trips with the child. These items were added to increase the coverage of summer parent involvement activities. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the revised version of the scale was 0.804.

3.2. Participants

Questionnaires were collected from parents of students in pre-K through eighth grade participating in a summer enrichment program in the northeast. Children’s ages ranged from 4 to 13 (M = 8.12, SD = 2.32). Parents ranged in age, with 40.4% between the ages of 30 and 39, 55.8% between 40 and 49, and 3.8% between 50 and 59 years old. The parents varied in race/ethnicity, with 38.5% White non-Hispanic, 3.8% African American, 5.8% Hispanic, 46.2% Asian, and 5.8% other. Most parents were married (94.2%), with 3.8% divorced and 1.9% widowed.

3.3. Setting

The school summer enrichment program was a full-day program for children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. This program was located near a university in a large city in the Northeast United States. This setting contained a diverse sample of parents from different ethnic backgrounds. The program focused on enriching students’ exposure to social studies and improving math, language arts, and writing skills, with an emphasis on team-building activities. Students had breakfast when they arrived at the program or at home before they arrived. The program involved academic activities in the morning, such as math, reading, and gardening. The afternoon focused on team building and art activities as well as cooking such items as baking, garlic knots and pizza. Science activities included the study of ocean animals and taking care of the environment. These activities were typical of those conducted at other summer enrichment programs in the United States. However, the context of the large city in which the program was operated provided a wide array of opportunities that may not be available in smaller or more rural settings.

Teachers for the summer enrichment program were certified, seeking certification, or preservice teachers at the college level. About 60% were female teachers, and 40% male teachers, ranging in age from 21 to 32 years.

Thirty-six students enrolled in the program each year. There were eight teachers, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. The summer enrichment program was for children whose parents wanted them to participate in academic activities and other less regimented experiences. Parents paid for their children to attend the program. Students in the elementary and middle grades were mixed in classes. Often, siblings attended the mixed-age classes together.

3.4. Procedure

Questionnaires were collected from mothers and fathers whose children participated in the summer enrichment program. Twenty-six questionnaires were collected in the summer of 2022. Twenty-nine questionnaires were collected during the summer of 2023. The samples were from the same summer enrichment program. They were combined in one database for study and analysis, including a code for the two data collections. Each parent participated in only one data collection for a total of 55 questionnaires.

The director of the program explained the study and asked all parents individually to fill out the questionnaire when the parents came to pick up their children from the summer enrichment program. Each parent who agreed to fill out the survey signed an informed consent form that reviewed the purpose of the study. Parents were given the opportunity to decline to participate or withdraw at any time. The study of the new questionnaire was labeled exempt by the university IRB at the second author’s institution.,. Some parents filled out the questionnaire at pick-up time, while other parents brought back the questionnaire and returned the following day. All information was kept confidential. All parents cooperated in completing the survey.

3.5. Data Analysis

Basic descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the means and standard deviations of all items in the Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire. Interitem correlations were computed to determine associations between items on the measure.

4. Results

4.1. Descriptive Analyses

The means and standard deviations of the 20 questions on the measure are reported in

Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations for Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire Items.

Item	Mean	SD
1. I work on math activities with my child in the home during the summer.	2.87	0.99
2. I read books with my child in the home during the summer that are not required for school.	3.09	0.95
3. I take my child to the library during the summer.	2.87	0.91
4. I reinforce learning from my child’s summer enrichment program at home during the summer.	2.94	0.91
5. I take my child to museums during the summer.	2.77	0.94
6. I participate in field trips with my child’s summer enrichment program.	2.33	0.91
7. I participate in science or nature activities with my child during the summer.	2.98	0.99
8. I watch educational television programming at home with my child during the summer.	3.00	0.96
9. I work on homework/at-home activities from the summer enrichment program with my child.	2.71	0.86
10. I assist my child with required summer reading for the following school year.	3.15	0.82
11. I communicate frequently with the director and/or teachers in my child’s summer enrichment program to determine what s/he is learning.	2.73	0.92
12. I discuss my child’s progress in summer enrichment program with his/her teachers.	2.67	0.89
13. I teach my child new vocabulary words or spellings during the summer.	3.00	1.02
14. I work on art projects and/or crafts at home with my child during the summer.	3.13	0.97
15. I volunteer in day-to-day activities in my child’s summer enrichment program.	2.07	0.94
16. My child’s summer enrichment program sends home information in the form of newsletters, flyers, pamphlets, or other written communication to keep me informed of events occurring during the program.	2.50	1.02
17. I am comfortable communicating with staff at my child’s summer enrichment program.	3.53	0.64
18. The staff at my child’s summer enrichment program keep me informed of important information regarding what my child is doing and learning in the program.	3.08	0.86
19. I keep continuing my child’s education as a major priority during the summer months.	3.21	0.77
20. I create a comfortable space in my home in which my child can read books or participate in other learning activities during the summer.	3.61	0.49

. The three highest-scoring items were as follows:

I create a comfortable space in my home in which my child can read books or participate in other learning activities during the summer. (M = 3.61, SD = 0.49).

I am comfortable communicating with staff at my child’s summer enrichment program. (M = 3.53, SD = 0.64).

I keep continuing my child’s education as a major priority during the summer months. (M = 3.21, SD = 0.77).

The three lowest-scoring items were as follows:

I volunteer in day-to-day activities in my child’s summer enrichment program. (M = 2.07, SD = 0.94).

I participate in field trips with my child’s summer enrichment program. (M = 2.33, SD = 0.91).

My child’s summer enrichment program sends home information in the form of newsletters, flyers, pamphlets, or other written communication to keep me informed of events occurring during the program. (M = 2.50, SD = 1.02).

4.2. Inter-Item Correlations

Inter-item correlations were computed between all items. The majority of inter-item correlations were statistically significant (see

Table 2. Inter-Item Correlations for Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
1	--
2	0.62 ***	--
3	0.60 ***	0.33 *	--
4	0.64 ***	0.60 ***	0.38 **	--
5	0.58 ***	0.39 **	0.55 ***	0.31 *	--
6	−0.16	−0.40	−0.06	0.18	−0.45	--
7	0.45 ***	0.40 **	0.37 **	0.54 ***	0.42 **	0.48 *	--
8	0.59 ***	0.64 ***	0.32 *	0.62 ***	0.38 **	−0.04	0.53 ***	--
9	0.38	0.37	−0.35	0.54 **	−0.13	0.08	−0.17	0.32	--
10	0.59 ***	0.65 ***	0.21	0.65 ***	0.31 *	−0.04	0.74 ***	0.66 ***	0.69 ***	--
11	0.57 ***	0.38 **	0.50 ***	0.56 ***	0.21	−0.16	0.26	0.25	0.44 *	0.53 ***	--
12	0.71 ***	0.54 ***	0.54 ***	0.65 ***	0.38 **	−0.48	0.33 *	0.41 **	0.43 *	0.55 ***	0.92 ***	--
13	0.64 ***	0.74 ***	0.34 *	0.53 ***	0.33 *	−0.20	0.53 ***	0.67 ***	0.34	0.76 ***	0.47 ***	0.58 ***	--
14	0.47 ***	0.50 ***	0.22	0.42 **	0.57 ***	−0.31	0.59 ***	0.49 ***	0.17	0.61 ***	0.24	0.32 *	0.55 ***	--
15	0.70 ***	0.41 **	0.52 ***	0.53 ***	0.54 ***	0.10	0.34 *	0.53 ***	0.70 **	0.43 **	0.60 ***	0.64 ***	0.55 ***	0.37 *	--
16	0.52 ***	0.16	0.48 **	0.50 ***	0.42 **	0.30	0.47 **	0.12	0.07	0.34 *	0.66 ***	0.60 ***	0.34 *	0.20	0.53 ***	--
17	0.05	0.23	0.00	0.38 **	−0.24	0.20	0.14	−0.03	0.42 *	0.34 *	0.34 *	0.34 *	0.14	−0.06	0.06	0.17	--
18	0.32 *	0.22	0.23	0.57 ***	0.05	0.27	0.34 *	0.10	0.34	0.51 ***	0.64 ***	0.58 ***	0.36 *	0.21	0.28	0.49 ***	0.52 ***	--
19	0.66 ***	0.73 ***	0.33 *	0.77 ***	0.22	0.28	0.64 ***	0.71 ***	0.34	0.73 ***	0.55 ***	0.58 ***	0.70 ***	0.39 **	0.41 **	0.37 *	0.30 *	0.56 ***	--
20	0.19	0.32 *	0.06	0.27	−0.06	−0.09	0.31 *	0.10	0.19	0.34 *	0.06	0.15	0.37 **	0.15	−0.06	0.08	0.49 ***	0.32 *	0.33 *	--

N = ??? Insert the N of the sample for this analysis. Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

), indicating that the items related to each other to a large extent. The three highest correlations were as follows:

I participate in science or nature activities with my child during the summer and I assist my child with the required summer readings for the following school year. (r = 0.93, p < 0.001).

I communicate frequently with the director and/or teachers in my child’s summer enrichment program to determine what s/he is learning, and I discuss my child’s progress in summer enrichment program with his/her teachers. (r = 0.92, p < 0.001).

I reinforce learning from my child’s summer enrichment program at home during the summer and I keep continuing my child’s education as a major priority during the summer months. (r = 0.77, p < 0.001).

The three lowest correlations were as follows:

I take my child to the library during the summer, and I am comfortable communicating with staff at my child’s summer enrichment program. (r = 0.00, p > 0.05).

I watch educational television programming at home with my child during the summer and I am comfortable communicating with staff at my child’s summer enrichment program (r = −0.03, p > 0.05).

I participate in field trips with my child’s summer enrichment program and I work on homework/at-home activities from summer enrichment program with my child (r = −0.04, p > 0.05), as well as I participate in field trips with my child’s summer enrichment program and I watch educational television programming at home with my child during the summer (r = −0.04, p > 0.05).

5. Discussion

The means and standard deviations in Table 1 suggest that most parents prioritized summer learning for their children and created a space at home for summer learning. Gonzalez-DeHass (2016) noted that parents need to “organize and arrange” their children’s activities in the home to promote learning. Most parents were committed to supporting their children’s summer reading, as reported in previous research (Kim and Quinn 2013; Kim and White 2008). Most felt that they were able to communicate with the teaching staff in their children’s summer enrichment programs. Parents’ efficacy or feeling able is a foundational condition for student learning (Epstein et al. 2019). Parents were more involved in the home in art activities than in science, reading, or math activities.

Most of the low-scoring items related to the lack of direct involvement with the school’s summer enrichment program. Most parents did not volunteer at the school nor participate in field trips. These results are likely due to the fact that most parents were employed during the day. Most reported they did not receive written communication or discuss the child’s progress and learning in the program with a teacher. These results suggested that the leaders and teachers of summer enrichment programs for students may need to increase both verbal and written communication with parents to explain on a regular basis about their children’s activities and the subject matter covered in the program. Teachers and directors of the summer enrichment programs may also organize more opportunities for parents to get involved in the summer enrichment programs, particularly during the late afternoon and evening. Decisions about the meaning of high and low mean scores, however, will only be meaningful if future studies examine and report a link between parent engagement activities and results for students’ academic learning..

The inter-item correlations (Table 2) showed that most items on parent–teacher communications were related. That is, parents who communicated with teachers about the program also communicated about their child’s progress in the summer enrichment program. These results suggested that parents who were committed to communicating with the summer enrichment program were invested in both knowing about the program and how their child was doing in the program.

Parents’ participation in science and nature activities with their child was correlated with parents’ participation in reading activities with their child. These findings suggested that parents will be involved across multiple areas of learning at the same time.

There was a strong correlation between parents prioritizing summer learning and reinforcing learning in the home. This result suggested that parents who are more committed to summer learning will follow through on that commitment by providing in-home activities for their children during the summer.

Generally, prioritizing summer learning was strongly associated with reading to the child during the summer. Reading is an activity that parents can engage in outside of the parent’s work hours, so it is logical that parents who want to be involved during the summer may set aside time during the evenings for reading.

The lowest correlations were found between items that measured parent involvement in the summer enrichment program and parent involvement in learning activities with their children outside of the summer enrichment program, both at home and in the community. These results suggested that even if parents are not directly involved in the summer enrichment program, they may still engage in learning activities with their children during the summer.

Additionally, several low correlations were found between creating a space in the home for learning during the summer and engaging in other summer involvement activities, such as going to the library, communicating with the director of the summer program, and volunteering with the summer enrichment program. These lower correlations suggested that creating a learning space (Epstein’s Type 1) is not related to engaging in several other of Epstein’s types of involvement, such as involvement with the community (Type 6), communication with the school (Type 2), or volunteering (Type 3).

There was only one correlation with the item addressing attending field trips with the child’s summer enrichment program. This result is likely due to the infrequent attendance of parents on summer enrichment program field trips. Notably, there were very few correlations with the item measuring assistance with homework from the summer enrichment program. This result could be due to the summer enrichment program not assigning significant homework for the child.

The preliminary results of the first test of the questionnaire suggest the potential importance of including items reflecting the framework of six types of involvement on the questionnaire. Parents endorsed items related to creating a learning space in the home (Type 1), engaging in learning activities in the home with their children (Type 4), and taking their children into the community to libraries and museums for learning experiences (Type 6). The low mean scores on volunteering at the summer enrichment program (Type 3) suggested a way for educators to extend parental engagement to improve their programs. They also suggest the importance of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, as parents reported scaffolding children’s learning in several ways during the summer months.

6. Conclusions

This study is the first exploration of a measure of parent involvement to examine the engagement of parents with children enrolled in a school-based summer enrichment program. The trial administrations provided some evidence that parents whose children were in a summer school setting made learning at home a priority and that they felt comfortable communicating and working with the teachers of the summer enrichment program. However, the parents’ responses also suggested that they felt they did not receive adequate information about their child’s learning from the teachers of the summer enrichment program.

With further study, this questionnaire may be used by summer school programs to determine whether parents are actively reinforcing the goals of the program and supporting their own child’s learning and development. It may also help teachers reach out to parents who may not be communicating with them and who may need more and better information to connect with their children on learning activities at home. With further study, this questionnaire may guide teachers in summer programs to create activities that help parents feel comfortable interacting with their children at home in reading, math, science, and art.

This study is the first to suggest that there are important connections between different dimensions of summer parent involvement. The data suggested that as involvement in one type of engagement increases, involvement in other areas also increases. For example, the high correlation between parental involvement in summer reading activities and parental involvement in science and nature activities during the summer suggests potentially important program design opportunities. Future studies are needed to explore how different domains of summer parent involvement are implemented at home during the summer and to what extent each domain is related to other domains.

This exploratory study reports a high reliability of the Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire as a whole—with a Cronbach alpha of over 0.8. This suggests that different aspects of family engagement relate strongly to each other—perhaps as a unitary construct. To confirm or refute the initial findings, future studies are needed with larger samples of parents, more diverse parents, various summer school programs in various geographic locations, and children in various grade levels. Future studies of the Summer Family Involvement Questionnaire should be tested with different groups to determine if the construct of summer parent involvement is clear and strong for other samples.

Studies with larger samples will permit more rigorous analyses, including factor analysis, to determine the underlying structure and potentially useful subscales of the measure. Additionally, demographic data should be collected regarding employment status and hours worked by parents to determine if there are important relationships between the types of involvement and the parents’ schedules at home and at work. The fact that most parents in this sample were married limits the generalizability of results to other family types, such as single-parent families who may not have similar resources to provide summer opportunities to their children both at home and in the form of enrichment programs.

Evidence will be needed in future studies on the validity of the measure. For example, evidence is needed on whether and how summer school educators use the information from parents to strengthen their programs. It will be necessary to learn if parents’ reports on the questionnaire can be matched to actual behavior at home and at school and whether and how parent engagement affects their children’s learning and development during the summer. Despite its limitations, this exploratory study showed the potential usefulness of a measure of summer parent involvement as a focus for new research addressing summer parent involvement and as a tool for school improvement of summer programming and prevention of summer learning loss.