School Performance Review and Development (SPRAD) was a major innovation in school evaluation in the Australian Capital Territory. One of its aims was to encourage teachers and parents to work together in evaluating and developing policy across all areas of school life: Administration and Management, Finances, Curriculum and Assessment, Staff and Student Welfare and overall School Climate. SPRAD is different from other forms of school review in that it is system-initiated but kept under the control of the participants. The ACT Department of Education and Training supplies the resourcing and consultative assistance. One of the hopes for SPRAD was that, in bringing teachers and parents closer together, it would create a greater understanding of where each group stood in relation to the other and strengthen parent/teacher relationships. The focus areas for this study were parent participation in classroom and related activities, the various channels of information employed within the school such as school newsletters, reports and interviews, specific notices and letters relaying matters peculiar to class groups and school sectors, parent/teacher information-sharing sessions, parent/teacher involvement in board and P & C activities, and other forms of formal and informal contact. The study highlights the differences and similarities between teachers and parents in relation to "professionalism" and "partnership", and areas of conflict highlighted by Beacham & Hoadley (1979) who discuss the Fortress Model of Schooling, and Darland (lanni et al: 1975) who writes of the "anyone can teach attitude" displayed by many members of the public, i.e. the attitude that because all people have had some experience of schooling, then their opinions on education carry as much weight as those of the professionals; the feeling that what was good for them is good for their children, because they have "been there, done that" and teachers do not really know very much more than they (the public) do. SPRAD was seen to be a helpful factor in developing some aspects of parent/teacher relationships. Satisfaction with parent participation in classroom activities had increased overall despite some drops in actual parent presence at the activities because of the movement of children into the Senior areas of the school. Another example was the lessening of the degree of dissatisfaction with teachers' professional development programmes, especially pupil-free school development days.

Graduation date: 1996

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 (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Leaf 100 blank. 41 unnumbered leaves in Appendix between leaf 103-106. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Leaf 100 blank. 41 unnumbered leaves in Appendix between leaf 103-106. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99). Also available on the Internet.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (MTech. degree in Education.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. / The improvement of the teaching-learning process in schools is enhanced by the involvement of parents in their children's learning. Parental involvement has the capacity to create a partnership between the most important role players in the education system, namely; teachers, parents and learners. According to this approach, parents are the most effective and reliable individuals who play a significant part in their children's education. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of parental involvement in the education of learners in the Vhuronga II Circuit.

The study aimed firstly to explore whether there were any differences in the quality of parent-child interactions in those children who scored high and those who scored low on the Pupil Behavior Rating Scale. Sixty-five pupils were randomly selected and rated on the Pupil Behavior Rating Scale concurrently by the teacher and the researcher. Ten of the highest performers and 10 lowest performers were then studied predominantly by the use of a questionnaire constructed by the researcher. However, the results of the study was hampered by the use of the questionnaire in that, unlike participant observation, it only showed differences in a limited number of areas. Much useful information, however, was obtained about the two groups of families, especially relating to socio-economic variables and attitudes to pre-schoo1 education. A second aim was to investigate the role of the social worker in promoting parental involvement in pre-schoo1 education. Here, the utilization of a needs assessment profile indicated that groupwork and social work intervention aimed at teachers were possible ways to promote parental involvement in pre-school education. An intervention programme was thus planned and executed by the researcher which confirmed that the social worker can be a useful resource in promoting home-school relations. Recommendations were made in regard to the role of the social worker, how the school system can be improved to promote parental involvement, and suggestions on future research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1987.

In school library research programs involving enquiry-based learning, a challenge for students doing research emerges when they take their projects home and turn to their parents for assistance. Often parents do not have sufficient knowledge of the research program and critical thinking to be able to effectively help their children. Many of them are unfamiliar with an inquiry-based research process and this inevitably leads to anxiety for both parents and children. A literature review revealed that parents do want to help their children at home with schoolwork, but are confused about the amount and kind of assistance they should provide. Moreover, research on parent involvement in school library research programs is virtually nonexistent, which stimulated the researcher to conduct this study. The purpose of this study was to investigate a parent/teacher-librarian (PTL) collaboration process intended to assist parents wanting to help their children more effectively with research homework. Before the implementation of this study, a school library research program was well-established (1988-1999), but it included no formal integration of parent involvement. The study investigated (a) parent, student, and teacher-librarian concerns that arose during collaboration, (b) resolutions of those concerns, (c) techniques that facilitated collaboration and parent assistance, and (d) the benefits and disadvantages of the collaboration process. One questionnaire was mailed at the beginning of the study to the parents of all 72 grade seven students in one Lower Mainland elementary school and, as a final evaluation, a second questionnaire was mailed to the parents of 28 grade seven students who had committed time to be in the study. Between the two questionnaires, a subset of eight parents and their corresponding children became primary subjects and were interviewed after they had worked with their children on research question formulation at home. Previous to working with their children, these eight parents had received a detailed overview of the student research program, two training sessions with the teacher-librarian and a variety of options for communicating directly with her at any time during the study. A major objective of the study was to collaboratively solve the major concerns that emerged during the study and a procedure was developed for that purpose. The parents and teacher-librarian together created guidelines for future parent involvement where resolutions of the concerns were stated. The greatest concern for all parties was the dilemma of balancing the student desire for independence and ownership of the projects with the parents' offer of help. The guidelines helped clarify the right kind of assistance for parents to give, while the overview and two training sessions increased parents' research knowledge base and allowed them to suggest improvements to strengthen the collaboration process and the library program. Because the PTL collaboration process provided all participants with more benefits than disadvantages, both the parents and teacher-librarian unanimously agreed that the PTL collaboration process merited continuance. With the supporting structure of a parent/ teacher collaboration process attached to learning activities at home, parent confidence about guiding children can be increased, the students can see positive results in learning, and a school library research program can thereby be strengthened. The teacher-librarian, the researcher in this study, felt her practice was improved with the addition of the PTL collaboration process. Moreover, its continuance could contribute ultimately to the development of students whose convictions are based on more reflective enquiry and thoughtful research.