The Effects of Family Engagement on STEM Learning and Motivation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Families play a crucial role in supporting and enhancing children’s academic, behavioral, and social-emotional development. Prior studies have consistently demonstrated numerous positive associations between family engagement and children’s learning, including minority students in urban areas, rural children, and across gender. Despite these positive findings, most of what is known is based on assessing the effects of family engagement (i.e., parent involvement and family-school partnerships) on children’s broad learning (e.g., general academic achievement). Large-scale reviews have paid little to no attention to how family engagement can specifically be used to support critical student STEM outcomes (e.g., STEM participation and motivation, math and science achievement). Further, little is known regarding how, for whom, and under what conditions family engagement interventions can be most effective. Uncovering the effectiveness, supportive conditions, and key elements that promote family engagement is especially timely and critical for historically marginalized students who have experienced disproportionate setbacks in math and science learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.This synthesis study includes a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of research published since 2001 evaluating the impact of family engagement interventions on student STEM outcomes. The goal of this project is to (a) determine the effectiveness of family engagement interventions on STEM outcomes, (b) identify practices/components within interventions that are most effective for promoting STEM outcomes, and (c) reveal the extent to which the effects of family engagement interventions vary as a function of study quality and/or certain child, family, and community characteristics. This synthesis will include studies that employ experimental group design and single-case design research. Methods will include multivariate random-effects models with robust variance estimation, moderation analyses, and assessments of bias and missing data. Findings from this synthesis will create foundational knowledge, and provide school personnel and families with evidence-based practices to support student STEM learning and motivation. Additionally, exploring for whom and under what conditions family engagement interventions are most effective will inform targeted practices aimed at supporting disenfranchised students and families.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.