Parent's and Service Provider's Perceptions of Family Involvement in Inclusive Early Childhood Education: Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the Arabic Family Involvement Questionnaire

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to adapt the Family Involvement Questionnaire (FIQ) into Arabic for use in the Saudi research context. The adaptation involved translating the instrument, producing the Arabic version (FIQ-A) and culturally modifying selected items. The study then examined the psychometric properties and suitability of the FIQ-A for exploring parents' and service providers' perceptions of family involvement in inclusive early childhood education settings in Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The FIQ-A instrument created for this study was administered to participants from inclusive early childhood settings in Riyadh. The sample consisted of 100 parents and 35 service providers. The instrument measured three dimensions of family involvement: school-based involvement, home-based involvement and home-school conferencing. Descriptive statistics and reliability analyses were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale and participants' perceptions of family involvement. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha coefficients were α = 0.73 for school-based involvement, α = 0.89 for home-based involvement and α = 0.86 for home-school conferencing, demonstrating acceptable to high reliability across the three dimensions. Parents reported higher levels of home-based activities (M = 3.43 vs. 2.64) and home-school conferencing (M = 3.40 vs. 2.66) compared with school-based involvement (M = 3.07 vs. 2.56) than service providers (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The FIQ-A instrument demonstrated suitable psychometric properties, and the findings indicated that families were willing and prepared to engage in their children's education. Service providers were also ready to facilitate and support this engagement. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of strengthening multiple forms of family involvement to promote inclusive practices and support the participation of children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood education settings.