Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 116(6), Aug 2024, 853-870; doi:10.1037/edu0000859
The home numeracy environment (HNE) is an essential factor to explain family engagement in relation to numeracy. Research in this field has mostly focused on English-speaking families and has not taken into consideration cultural differences that contextualize the home environment. Measuring HNE in more ethnically diverse samples might counter results that are biased from using a deficit perspective. Given the growth of the Latine population in the United States, there is a need to redefine family engagement in numeracy and update the HNE measures to increase their cultural relevance. This mixed methods study used a strengths-based framework to develop an HNE measure for Latine families. Fourteen Latine caregivers were interviewed (57% mothers) in the first study, and 216 Latine caregivers (63% mothers) participated in the second study, which examined the scale’s factor structure. The validation process included parent reports of their child’s numeracy skills (child Mage = 2.93 years, SD = 0.74). Three factors were identified (caregiver–child interactions, caregivers’ math anxiety, and math beliefs). The first and third factors were significantly associated with parental reports of their child’s numeracy skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)