Thesis advisor: Karen D. Arnold / "Parental involvement," a term long part of the K-12 lexicon is now included in the higher education vocabulary. Many college administrators today associate "parental involvement" with a certain pattern of behavior and describe the contemporary traditional-aged student-parent relationship with negative examples. Dubbed by the media as "helicopter parents," this sub-population of overly involved mothers and fathers has come to represent all parents of college students, even though these examples are largely socioeconomic class-based. This qualitative phenomenological study considered the lived experience of the relationship between working class and low-income students and their parents during the first semester of college. All students in the sample were enrolled at four-year colleges and had attended an alternative high school where parental involvement was supported and encouraged. Students (n=6) participated in three open-ended, qualitative interviews and their parents (n=7) participated in two. What constitutes "parental involvement" for working class and low-income students and parents in the context of higher education? This study found that the parents had positive, emotionally supportive relationships with their students. Students were autonomous and functionally independent, but emotionally interdependent with parents. Parents in the study did not have a direct connection to their child's college or university; students served as intermediaries in this parent-institution relationship. Therefore, this sample did not fit the current definition of parental involvement in higher education. As colleges and universities implement parent services as a reaction to the phenomenon of parental involvement, they need to consider alternative pathways for communicating with parents from lower socioeconomic groups, many of whom have not attended college. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

This article is a working paper presenting a network building cooperative project between Umeå University inSweden and Zhejiang University in China. The project focuses on parents’ involvement and home-schoolcollaboration in Sweden and China and has an ambition to entail a set of empirical objectives: (1) to map andcompare the systems, policies, curricula, and resources dealing with home-school collaboration in Sweden andChina at the national level; (2) to identify and analyze the similarities and differences in the definitions, foci,models, practices, and perspectives on home-school collaboration in the two countries at the local level; and (3) toidentify and seek out good examples and models from both countries for communication and interaction amongteachers, parents, and students. Following an introduction to the project design where a comparative case-studyapproach is presented, this article reviews policies and researches concerning home-school collaboration inSwedish and Chinese contexts. Cases from both countries are selected, described, and discussed. Relative issues forfurther study are suggested. / Establishing research network between Sweden and China on cooperation between home and school

Departing from commonly held fact that parental involvement increases students’ academicachievement; The Swedish Schools and parents are required to have close relations with each other. However, low parental involvement becomes obvious norm in Swedish schools nowadays, especially immigrant parents. The aim of this qualitative study is to identify, from the participating parents’ perspective, the challenges that face Somali parents in their interaction with compulsory schools in Flen, Sweden. It will also elaborate on the role of mother tongue teacher as mediator in home-school interaction. The data collected through interviews with sixteen Somali parents in the city shows that understanding Swedish school system, language, parents’ education level, integration, social background, gender role, and communication methods are some of the main challenges that face these parents in their interaction with their children’s schools. Majority of the parents were socially excluded from major culture and lacked understanding towards different social, economic and organizational phenomenon in the Swedish society. The segregation resulted in parents’ disengagement from school and created distrust towards school, mother tongue teachers, social workers and authorities in general. Knowledge generated from this study may give policy makers, school, and interested institutions the needed theoretical foundation to design action plans, programs and policies in order to increase the level of participation of Somali parents.

This study examined the experiences of parents who enrolled their children in the English or French immersion program. Participants included parents of children in junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten and Grade 2. The primary method of data collection was parental interview. Questionnaires were also administered to parents with children in Grade 2. The results indicated that parents have different considerations when deciding to enroll their children in French immersion or English. Among parents with children in French immersion there was a trend of differential literacy practices and self-efficacy regarding homework support based on parental comfort in using the French language. Overall, the results indicate that parents desire more ease of access to information pertaining to enrollment and French immersion parents desire more easily accessible resources to support their children in homework.

This research suggests that positive parent involvement and partnership with schools is a prerequisite of effective schooling and that co-operation between home and school can raise educational achievement The purpose of this study was to determine by means of review of literature and empirical investigation, the nature of parent involvement in education, methods available to involve parents in the education of children, and the reasons for non-involvement of parents in education of children, The empirical study was aimed at determining the degree of parent involvement and reasons of non-involvement of parents in the education of children in the North West Province in the district of Potchefstroom, as well as the attitudes of educators towards parent involvement in the education system. Chapter 1 deals with the statement of the problem, aims of the research and the methods employed in achieving the purpose of the study, This includes a discussion of the population and sample used for the empirical research and an outline of the chapters, Chapter 2 highlights the nature and scope of parent involvement In education, fundamental and educational grounds for parent involvement were discussed; models of parent involvement were identified and discussed, advantages and disadvantages of parent involvement were mentioned, ways in which parents become involved in education of their children and reasons for non-involvement of parents in education were discussed. In Chapter 3, the focus was on the context of parent involvement in South Africa. Parent involvement in the pre-democratic era and democratic era was discussed. The empirical research design, administrative procedures, population and the random sampling as well as statistical techniques were discussed in Chapter 4. The duly completed questionnaires returned by educators and parents of the children of the selected schools as respondents were empirically analysed in Chapter 5. The last chapter, Chapter 6, throws light on the summary of all the chapters; research findings and recommendations based on the research findings derived from the previous chapters, as well as final remarks. This implies that all relevant issues raised in all chapters are summarised and recommendations are also made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-36).

abstract: ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to provide insight into immigrant Latino parents' perspectives on parental involvement in elementary school settings as influenced by the Title I Family Literacy Program (TFLP). A comparison is made of Latino parents who have been participating in the TFLP for more than one year, participants new to the program and Latino parents who chose not to participate in the TFLP. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a survey and individual interviews of randomly selected members of each comparison group. All research participants were immigrant Latino parents with children at one of ten Title I elementary schools operating a TFLP. The schools are part of a large, urban school district in the Southwest. Findings indicate the TFLP has a positive effect on parental involvement practices of immigrant Latino parents. Participating parents showed increased confidence in their ability to support their children's education and program participants are more engaged in school activities. The results of this study imply participation in the program for one year or more has the most impact on families. Parents who participated for more than one year communicated a high sense of responsibility toward their influence on their child's education and upbringing and an understanding of strategies needed to effectively support their children. This research also identifies barriers parents face to participation in the TFLP and parental involvement in general. Implementation of family literacy programs in other districts would need to follow guidelines similar to this TFLP to achieve comparable results. More research is needed on the effects of this program on parents, children, and school staff. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Family structure is related to educational attainment; it is evident that individuals from two- parent homes complete on average more years of schooling and are more likely to graduate from high school, attend University and complete University as compared to peers raised in single-parent families. Parental characteristics such as educational level, income and parents, aspirations for their children are variables said to influence schooling outcomes of South African learners. Children from disadvantaged families are less likely to graduate from high school and attend an institution of higher learning. The aim of this study was to explore and describe how single parenting in a disadvantaged community influences a learner's decision to enrol at a higher education institution. An explorative and descriptive research design grounded in a qualitative research approach was utilised. Research participants were purposively selected from two senior secondary schools in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Three sets of data, namely (a) grade 12 learners raised by single parents (b) parents of these learners, and (c) principals and grade 12 Life Orientation teachers were collected for greater insight of this situation. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and field notes were used to collect the data. Tech's eight steps of data analysis were used. Ethical considerations such as confidentiality, voluntary participation, and informed consent from learners, parents, teachers and informed assent from learners younger than 18 years of age were adhered to. The greatest influences to enrolling into a higher education institution and the type of institution were family structure and the learner's socio-economic status. Learners feel responsible for taking care of their parents and siblings; therefore feel obligated to work after high school. Those that have the desire to study further are concerned about how they will finance their studies. The Department of Education (DoE) needs to conduct a needs assessment and provide schools with the resources they need. This includes teachers and administrative staff. The resources schools have influence school outcomes. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to do an analysis of what the barriers to enrolling into university and college are at the various schools. When they have identified these barriers they need to tailor-make their information sessions with high school learners so that they have all the necessary information before they assume enrolling at higher education institutions is inconceivable. Schools need to provide the necessary information about university and college; including available funding to learners and their parents from earlier grades. This will be of use to those who genuinely want to study further but are concerned about finances.

This dissertation was undertaken to answer the following research question: What is the relationship between parental involvement and college generation status with the persistence of Hispanic Millennial college students? Social capital theory (Coleman, 1988) was used as a theoretical framework to analyze and gain a greater understanding of the factors that correlated with the persistence of first-generation Hispanic Millennial college students. This dissertation used an ex post facto with hypothesis research design. The research hypothesis was that parental involvement would be positively related with the second-year persistence of first-generation Hispanic Millennial college students. This dissertation used the data collected from 1179 Hispanic students who participated in the ELS: 2002 and enrolled in college. Logistic regression analysis of data from 972 of the students with completed surveys were used to examine the relationship between the dependent variable, which was student persistence to the second year, and the following independent variables: socio-economic status, family income, high school grade point average, gender, financial aid, highest degree ever expected, academic engagement, social engagement, college generation, and parental involvement. This dissertation’s findings show that parental involvement was not statistically associated with persistence to the second year of college, but that high school grade point average, highest degree expected, academic engagement, and the interaction between parental involvement and college generation were. While the findings do not support the hypothesis, they provide some evidence that may be supportive of the argument that recommendations that may affect degree expectations, high school GPA, and academic engagement of first generation Hispanic Millennial college students may be positively related to their college persistence.

Introduction: Adequate nutrition knowledge, positive attitudes and perceptions, and good practices of parents on infant and young child feeding (IYCF), among others, are essential for the optimal growth of children. Hence, the involvement of both parents in IYCF is essential. Aim: To explore and describe the involvement of both biological parents and caregivers in IYCF in Mzimba-north district, Malawi by assessing their nutrition knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices, and identifying the factors that affected their involvement. Study design: A cross sectional descriptive study employing quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Setting: Five agriculture extension planning areas in Mzimba-north district, Malawi. Sampling technique: Stratified random sampling in the quantitative domain and purposive sampling in the qualitative domain. Sample: Quantitative domain: Households [mothers (n = 154) and fathers (n = 127)] with children aged zero to 24 months and caregivers (n = 4) where the biological parents were absent. Qualitative domain: A different sample of fathers (n = 41), mothers (n = 53) and local leaders (n = 3). Methodology: Quantitative domain: Participants were stratified into three groups based on the age of their children, i.e. <six months, six to 12 and >12 to 24 months. Data were collected using modified FAO nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) questionnaires. Data were analysed using Stata version 14.0 and Microsoft Excel 2013 version. The Chi-square, Fisher’s exact and McNemar's tests were used to compare the nutrition KAP between males and females. Testing was done at 0.05 significance level. Qualitative domain: Eleven focus group discussions (FGDs): five with males and six with females, and three in-depth interviews with three local leaders were conducted using three interview guides (one for each group). Creswell’s method of data analysis was used to identify themes and sub-themes. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria (Ref no EC151204-26) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mzuzu Agriculture Development Division, Malawi. Results: Quantitative domain: More than half of the participants knew the recommended IYCF practices. More than 80% of the participants showed positive attitudes on the appropriate IYCF practices. No significant differences were observed between the male and female participants’ mean knowledge scores and their responses on the attitude statements (P > 0.05). All participants with children <six months reported having their children breastfed both during the previous day and night. Half of the children <six months were exclusively breastfed. Poor food diversity with low consumption of animal foods was observed for children aged six to 24 months. The majority of the participants reported to have given their children food from only two food groups out of seven food groups. Qualitative domain: The participants identified the roles of mothers, fathers and local leaders in IYCF; mothers had direct roles while fathers and local leaders had supporting roles. The roles and influence of grandmothers on IYCF were also discussed. The participants identified the motivating factors and the factors limiting parental involvement in IYCF, and made recommendations on improving parental involvement in IYCF. Conclusion: Findings from the qualitative study were in support of quantitative study findings. Both parents were involved in IYCF. However, mothers had direct roles while fathers had supporting roles. Good nutrition knowledge, positive attitudes and perceptions, and poor practices on IYCF were reported. Recommendations: Participants in the FGDs made recommendations on improving parental involvement in IYCF. Recommendations are also made for future research and the implementation of IYCF practices in Mzimba-north district, Malawi. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Food Science / MSc / Unrestricted