Family-school participation. Evaluation from the QFIS integral model

Abstract

This research offers an instrument (QFIS) to evaluate something so important associated with the quality of schools, the climate of coexistence and the achievement of students such as the participation of families in the life of schools. The questionnaire has been validated to measure seven dimensions: communication with families, participation in the center's activities, feeling of belonging, involvement in the home, activities in the AMPA and the School Council, community participation and family training. 3,612 families of Early Childhood Education, Primary and Secondary Education students in a multicultural context participated. The instrument was developed collaboratively by the authors and the contributions of the management teams of the schools and AMPA. By validating the content of the instrument and the corresponding exploratory factor analysis (using the principal components method), the confirmatory factor analysis (modeling of structural equations) empirically demonstrated the fit of the theoretical model described. Likewise, the reliability indices calculated were satisfactory, which made it possible to affirm that the resulting instrument is valid and reliable for the global measurement of family participation in school. The possibilities of transfer referred to the detection of needs for educational administrations, those responsible for schools and future research are evident.

Keywords:family involvement, school, structural equation model, construct validity, factor analysis.