Father Involvement and Children's Early Learning: A Critical Review of Published Empirical Work from the Past 15 Years

ABSTRACT

Parent involvement research predominantly focuses on the involvement of mothers in children's educational experiences, and rarely speaks to the role of the “other” parent – fathers. Yet, there is building interest in the role that fathers play in children's development, and how this role may be especially salient during early childhood and the transition into formal schooling. This review critically evaluates father involvement literature from 1990 to 2005 within this early childhood population. In particular, it provides systematic evidence that to some degree researchers have been responsive to recent critiques, and lays out a path of sampling, methodological and conceptual challenges still left to be tackled.