Longitudinal trajectories of parent-teacher communication during elementary school: Investigating child academic skills, school enjoyment and self-perceived ability.

Background: Parent-teacher communication is key to children's school functioning. It can help teachers adjust their educational practices and interactions with students and increase parent involvement at school.

Aims: This study establishes longitudinal trajectories of parent-teacher communication, as reported by parents and examines the correlates and prospective association with students' academic abilities, school enjoyment and self-perceived ability.

Sample: A population-based cohort of school-aged children (N = 1486, 51.4% boys).

Methods: The quality of parent-teacher communication was reported by mothers when the children were aged 6, 7, 8 and 10 years. At age 10, children's mathematics and vocabulary skills were measured using standardized measures. At age 12, children provided self-reports on school enjoyment and self-perceived ability.

Results: Latent class growth analysis identified three trajectories: high (60.9%, n = 906), moderately high (34.4%, n = 512) and low-quality parent-teacher communication (4.7%, n = 68). Child externalizing and internalizing behaviours, as well as suboptimal parenting practices, were associated with the low-quality trajectory. Children of mothers in the low-quality parent-teacher communication trajectory reported lower self-perceived ability at age 12, compared to children in the high-quality communication trajectory. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in school enjoyment, vocabulary skills or mathematics skills.

Conclusions: Findings reveal that preventive efforts could be implemented by teachers to actively engage with parents of these children. This could involve providing guidance to parents on effective communication strategies, while teachers should also be mindful of their own communication skills.