Thesis (M.Dev) --University of Limpopo, 2009. / The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing towards the poor performance of Grade 12 learners at two selected high schools, which fall within low quintiles in Limpopo Province. Specifically, the study focused on low Grade 12 outputs in relation to access to university. Due to the exploratory nature of the study and the holistic approach that was undertaken both the home and school environments were targeted as points of investigation. Multiple methods of data collection were used. First, data were collected through individual interviews with learners, educators, principals, and parents. Second, an observation method was used to collect data, such as, time management by learners, their behavioral patterns inside and outside the classroom and in the schoolyard. Finally, document analysis was used to analyse the attendance and performance of learners on attendance registers, quarterly and half yearly schedules, and mark sheets. Key findings of this research suggest that the home environment of learners is not educationally supportive due to poverty, which includes factors such as parents’ low-level of education, high unemployment rate, child-headed families, unpredictable home environment, emotional problems and issues relating to gender roles. In the school environment, the study showed the following causative factors: lack of facilities, unavailable learner support materials, lack of discipline, English as a medium of instruction, heavy workload due to rationalisation and redeployment of educators, and confusion with regard to the application of the new curriculum (National Curriculum Statement). As a result, the study concluded that both home and school environment factors collaborate in producing poor Grade 12 results in the schools. Recommendations are made for attention to be given to these factors by all educational stakeholders. Directions are suggested for future research on poor performance and university access. / Not listed

This is a longitudinal study of patterns of children's early literacy development with a view to predicting literacy achievement after one year of schooling. The study fits within an emergent/social constructivist theoretical framework that acknowledges a child as an active learner who constructs meaning from signs and symbols in the company of other more experienced language users. Commencing in the final month of preschool, the literacy achievement of 114 young Australian students was mapped throughout Year 1. Data were gathered from measures of literacy achievement with the students, surveys with parents and surveys and checklists with teachers. Cross-time comparisons were possible as data were gathered three times from the students and teachers and twice from parents. Parents' perceptions of their children's personal characteristics, ongoing literacy development and family home literacy practices were examined in relation to children's measures of literacy achievement. Their perceptions were found to be accurate. Parents supported children's literacy growth at home in both the prior-to-school period and throughout Year 1. Teachers reflected on children's characteristics as members of their classes and on their knowledge of children's preparation for literacy. Generally, their predictions of literacy success were based on unsustainable connections with children's ability to concentrate, follow directions and stay on task. Children demonstrated a broad range of understandings about literacy in the prior-to-school period and teachers failed to acknowledge the extent of these. Children's prior-to-school understandings relating to the alphabet, environmental print, concepts about print and phonological awareness all predicted later literacy achievements. Alphabetic knowledge and environment print were found to be the strongest predictors. Results showed few significant school, age, home or gender effects. However, children's prior-to-school understandings of literacy were shown to predict later literacy achievement. Those with the greater level of knowledge prior-to-school generally maintained that advantage when later literacy achievements were measured.

The study addressed immigrant families' and mainstream school systems' support for young children's home language learning in Basel, Switzerland. In Switzerland, as in many European countries and in Australia, early childhood educators work with growing numbers of children from immigrant, refugee and asylum seeking families. The culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse groups of children that now characterise childcare centres, kindergartens and primary schools result from these patterns of immigration and present challenges for teachers and other educators who cater for the needs of increasingly diverse student populations. The literature on home languages acknowledges the importance of the relationship between a child's first language and development in the second language and the essential role of language proficiency in academic success. Despite knowledge from extensive studies on the interdependency of first and second language development (Cummins, 1979, 1981b, 1991, 2001) and evidence that continued development in a child's first language is crucial for overall cognitive development and transfer to second language learning (Collier, 1995), there is little focus on helping children maintain their home language in the early years of education. Arguably too, information and communication technologies (ICTs) lead to increased availability and opportunities for global communication, affecting the nature of communication, and creating possibilities for new forms of learning in the home and school. Children must therefore have the opportunity to become proficient users of these new and evolving forms of technology in order to acquire the skills, including language skills that they will need for future employment. In the light of this conceptual background, the present research focused on: (1) Immigrant parent beliefs and attitudes to home language use and how languages were used at home. (2) The strategies families used to promote home language learning in oral and written forms. (3) The extent to which ICTs were used as a tool to support home languages in the family and school environment. (4) The kinds of support offered in school and communities and what government policies and initiatives were afforded to home languages. (5) The nature of school and community policies and practices on the promotion and maintenance on home languages. These issues were addressed through a qualitative interpretive research approach drawing on the traditions of phenomenography (Marton 1986) and Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The research was based on three main data sources: (1) analysis of policy and curriculum documents from school systems, (2) interviews with key education personnel and (3) interviews with ?immigrant? parents (n=58) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds living in Basel. Families were drawn from 16 countries including the former Yugoslavia, (Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia), Spain, South and Central America, and Turkey. All children, whose parents participated in the study, attended state run kindergartens and primary schools. A major focus in the data collection and analysis was on (a) parents' perspectives and experiences as they negotiated home language learning in the home, school and community and the extent to which they used ICTs to enrich home language development, and (b) mainstream teachers' perspectives on the role home languages played in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms, as well as the role ICTs and media played in teaching children from immigrant families. The results of the study showed that: (a) immigrant children's home languages and culture as well as bilingualism and multilingualism are prominent features in Basel integration policy and curriculum documents but this focus is rarely translated to early childhood classroom practice, (b) classroom teachers focus predominantly on children learning their second language (German), (c) immigrant children's home language and culture is valued and respected but formal opportunities for children to learn to read and write in their home languages begin only when they have reached second grade, (d) there were a range of perspectives, reasons and strategies for maintaining and promoting home languages within families, (e) ICT was not an integral part of children's classroom experiences in kindergarten and scarcely integrated in primary classrooms, but was used in a variety of ways within homes to promote home language and communication, (f) there were wide variations in parents' and teachers' perspectives on what constitutes parent involvement in children's learning and education, and (g) links between home and school were mostly 'one way' and formal and some parents desired more frequent, more informal and spontaneous contact with teachers. These findings have considerable implications for Basel school and classroom practice and for early and middle year policy makers. They show that embedded assumptions of both teachers and parents may have a negative impact on children's positive identification with both majority and minority language learning. Limited financial support for home language classes is likely to have a negative effect on immigrant children's home language literacy learning. Dialogue needs to be sought on the potential for ICT use in home language learning. Policy makers' efforts towards developing multilingualism in all children are problematic. Some parents drew attention to the challenge of learning a third language through a second language, L1 + L2a +L2b + L3+L4. (L1 = home language, L2a= German Swiss dialect, L2b = Standard German, L3= French, L4 = English). To help better explain and increase awareness of the interrelationship between home languages, ICT use and the home-school connection, a model was developed that reflects the range of immigrant family perspectives on home language learning and the influences that appear to promote home language development within children's environments. This 'multilingual social cohesive communications model' should assist in understanding the important links between home languages, ICTs and home-school communication. The model emphasises the importance of developing bottom up local level strategies and recognises the vital role of positive interactions between parents and teachers. It builds on a sociocultural view of language learning, tapping on the potential of new learning tools (ICTs) in real and virtual communities. It recognises the importance of intercultural identity formation and at the same time the inhibiting effects of discrimination both overt and covert. The model incorporates the strategies schools need to improve communication with families and to strengthen links between home and school with the view to improving educational outcomes and prospects for immigrant children.

Graduation date: 1996

The study examined dimensions of the family context associated with variations in parent involvement and parent perceptions of children's school achievement using data from 1,085 male and 2,239 female respondents with a child between the ages of 5 and 18 years collected in the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households. Small but significant differences in parent perceptions of school achievement were found in favor of children being raised in a first-married two-parent home. Negative effects on school outcomes were centered on children who experienced family disruption. Living in a one-parent household with a parent who was previous married was associated with parent reports of poorer performance for elementary school children and lower grades for adolescents. Neither living in a one-parent household with a continuously single parent nor living in a stepfamily was significantly related to achievement. Parent employment status was not directly related to children's achievement but did have indirect effects through parent involvement both at home and school. Parent involvement at school and in child-centered home activities was associated with perceptions of improved school performance for elementary school children and higher grades for adolescents. Mothers were more likely to be involved in children's schooling than fathers. Single and cohabiting mothers were less involved at school than first-married mothers, but single fathers tended to be more likely to participate than their first-married counterparts. There were no significant differences between the home involvement of single mothers and their first-married counterparts but single fathers were more involved at home than first-married fathers. For both mothers and fathers, receiving tangible aid from a wide network of relatives and friends was associated with higher levels of school and home involvement. Findings suggest that educators who have negative beliefs about single parents' engagement in school-family partnerships may be influenced by these parents' low presence at school. Recognizing that single parents are as involved with their children at home as parents in traditional families can lead to educational practices that support home involvement and result in positive effects on children's academic progress. / Graduation date: 1994

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 34-35.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Bahira Sherif-Trask, Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-189).

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the attitudes and preferences regarding home/school involvement strategies of 23 mothers of kindergarten students who had been identified as at-risk for failure in school and 18 mothers of kindergarten students who had been designated as peer models. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Chi square and t-tests were used at the .05 level to determine if there were significant differences between the responses of the two groups. Respondents were asked to express their preferences for programs and services designed to support families, potential use of these programs and services, views concerning the importance of different home/school involvement strategies, comfort level with different home/school involvement strategies, preferences for topics for parent education, and preferences for ways of learning about helping their children. A significant difference was found between the two groups regarding potential use of programs and services, views concerning the importance of different home/school involvement strategies, and preferences for ways of learning about their children. Mothers of at-risk students favored one-way communication with schools and strategies that were not social in nature. Mothers of at-risk students showed an interest in parent education topics which discussed general development and family maintenance over discipline. The mean age at the birth of the first child for mothers of at-risk students was 19.4 years while the mean age at the birth of the first child of mothers of peer model students was 24.3 years. / Graduation date: 1991

The purpose of the study was to ascertain and report current attitudes of public school superintendents in Indiana regarding the problems associated with home schooling, and, to recommend solutions to the problems identified. To facilitate reporting the data the study was written in five chapters. Chapter I included an overview that delineated the purpose for the study and organization for subsequent chapters.Chapter II presented a review of related research and literature directly pertaining to the study. Constitutional issues related to the First, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were reviewed. The issue of individual rights versus the police power of the state was found to be a balancing act which required careful scrutinization in the courts to protect the rights of individuals and the rights of the state to an educated citizenry.Chapter III contained an explanation of the methods and procedures employed to derive the necessary data. The chapter contained a description of the population, sources of data, methods used in the development of the questionnaire, procedures for collection of the data, and, methods for analysis of the data.Chapter IV presented an analysis of the data collected. The superintendents indicated a 64.83 percent increase from 1982-1985 in home schoolers and future growth was probable. The respondents indicated all home schoolers should be required to register with the Department of Education with hours of attendance, curriculum, and proof of learning monitored by the state.Chapter V provided a summary of the study, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The findings support the following conclusions:1. Public school superintendents need to recognize the legitimacy of home schools as a legal alternative to public schooling.2. Courts will not support public school superintendents in Indiana when prosecuting home schooling parents for violation of compulsory attendance statutes unless definitive proof exists that no structured education has been provided.3. Compulsory attendance statutes as stated provide for a wide variation of interpretations and may lead to unnecessary litigation.4. Requiring parents to prove teaching competency and establishing minimum state guidelines for home schools would assist in meeting the legislative intent of the compulsory attendance statute.