abstract: Preschool children with language delays often struggle to learn new concepts. Proven strategies such as modeling, prompting, reinforcing responses, direct teaching, and hands-on experience matter to young children with language delays. Also important are social interactions and shared experiences with more knowledgeable persons. Within a cultural context Funds of Knowledge, that is the talents, traditions, and abilities families possess and pass down to their children may be a context for these. However, despite their importance the value Funds of Knowledge have has not been explored with parents of children with special needs. This action research study used a mixed-methods design to understand if Funds of Knowledge could be used as context to improve communication between parents and their children and build trust between parents and a teacher. Seven families participated in the study. Quantitative data were gathered with surveys and were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data consisted of transcripts from home-visit interviews, parent presentations, and a focus group, and were analyzed with a grounded theory approach. Results indicate parents entered the study with trust in the teacher especially in terms of having competence in her abilities. Data also show that parents used the language strategies provided to improve communication with their children. Data also indicate that the use of a Funds of Knowledge activity allowed parents to share their knowledge and interests with their children and children in the classroom, feel empowered, and express emotions. From these findings, implication for practice and further research are provided. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-29T11:19:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 adrianaijanomotta.pdf: 842069 bytes, checksum: 7ccbabce5cc728bc40e58c47b973113e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-03-03T14:14:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 adrianaijanomotta.pdf: 842069 bytes, checksum: 7ccbabce5cc728bc40e58c47b973113e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-03T14:14:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 adrianaijanomotta.pdf: 842069 bytes, checksum: 7ccbabce5cc728bc40e58c47b973113e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-14 / O presente trabalho investigou nuances do envolvimento parental que pudessem impactar positivamente o desempenho acadêmico de um grupo de alunos da educação infantil e ensino fundamental de uma escola pública municipal em Limeira- S.P. A investigação se deu em um grupo específico de alunos da Unidade Escolar que, apesar de se encontrarem sob as mesmas condições socioeconômicas e estarem submetidos a um mesmo projeto pedagógico, apresentavam desempenho superior ao demais. A metodologia utilizada constituiu-se de questionários e grupos focais aplicados junto aos pais, questionários respondidos por professores e entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas junto ao núcleo gestor da escola. O principal objetivo foi o de captar tais nuances e, a partir delas, elaborar um Plano de Ação Educacional com vistas a instrumentalizar a comunidade escolar como um todo, acerca da importância e das formas mais assertivas de envolvimento parental que possam produzir impactos positivos no desempenho acadêmico dos alunos. / The present work investigated nuances in parental involvement that could positively impact the academic performance of a group of students from the kindergarten and primary school of a municipal public school in Limeira-SP. The investigation was given in a specific group of a School Unit that despite the fact that they were in the same social economic conditions and being under the same pedagogical project, they showed higher performance compared to others. The methodology used was made up of quizzes and focal groups applied with the parents, quizzes answered by teachers and semi structured interviews accomplished with the school manager nucleus. The main goal was to get those nuances and from them, create an Educational Action Plan in order to equip the school community as a whole, about the importance and more assertive ways of involving parents who can produce positive impacts in students’ academic performance.

The number of children whose mothers are incarcerated is increasing around the world. Educators of young children are faced with new challenges in their classrooms as they work with these children during their formative years for social-emotional development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to interview the mothers, in order to gain their perspective on how they feel their incarceration has affected their relationship with their children; how they believed it would affect their children in the future, and to investigate the perceptions of early childhood teachers who worked with children of incarcerated mothers. Using interviews, observations, journal, and field notes the researcher collected information from 3 incarcerated mothers, 3 of their children, and the 2 teachers who worked with these children. Overall findings were that the mother-child relationships are of extreme importance to the mothers. They have high hopes for a better life for their child, which includes concerns about their education. Mothers had fears that their incarceration would repeat itself in their children and desired for things to be different in their children's futures. They reported their incarceration affecting their children in negative ways. Their children had difficulty depicting their mothers in their drawings. Lastly, the teachers highly encouraged parental involvement, even though the mother was incarcerated. They expressed the importance of the mother-child relationship impacting the child's ability to learn, and teachers believed special training and preparation are necessary for working with these children.

Juvenile offense is a social problem that affects communities and families. Black juvenile offenses occur at a higher rate than White juvenile offenses. The parents of these offenders may engage in the intervention process of their juvenile offender with the intent to improve the intervention outcome. The literature on this topic, however, is primarily focused on the treatment outcomes of various types of intervention. The identified gap in the literature is research on Black parental input on the process used to select various types of intervention for their offending children. The high rate of incidence compounded by the racial disparity furthers the need to better understand the intervention and treatment selection process from the Black parental perspective. The research question for this study was what are the experiences and perceptions of Black parents involved in selecting juvenile intervention programs for their children who have offended? The theoretical framework used to explain and interpret the participant data was Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. This generic qualitative study involved 7 interviews with Black parents of juvenile offenders residing 20 miles outside of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Thematic analysis revealed that participants’ selection process is driven by feelings of responsibility, community and church guidance, unaddressed emotional needs of their children, and intervention challenges and outcomes. Findings support the need for preintervention services; intervention resource availability; parental awareness; and intervention strategy, reform, and efficacy. Policy makers may use these results to inform actions to reduce the juvenile offense rate among Black youth and foster better outcomes for this population group.

The focus of this study was on how to help narrow the achievement gap between Native American students and their non-Native peers in an urban Oklahoma school district. A qualitative case study approach was used to answer the questions of how parents of Native American students perceive their children's academic success in reading and mathematics in Grade 1- Grade 12 and why they believe their children have consistently (or historically) performed below district, state, and national expectations in these subjects in an attempt to better understand the achievement gap. Progress reports, institutional reports, and standards-based test scores were indicative of the widening achievement gap between Native American students and their non-Native peers. Bourdieu's cultural capital theory supported by Epstein's model of parental involvement were used as the conceptual framework for this study. Six parents of Native American students in Grade 1– Grade 12 were selected as participants and were interviewed using open-ended, semistructured questions to gain insight and help to answer the research questions. The coding of collected data, an analysis of emergent themes and triangulation, peer debriefing, and member checks were all utilized as analytical procedures to ensure accuracy and credibility. Results from the study revealed that parents of Native American students perceive their students' academic success as a struggle and identify parental involvement, curriculum relatability, class size and communication among some of the barriers to their students' success. Implications for positive social change for this study included the potential to inform more effective teaching strategies for teachers who teach Native American students, inform their curriculum development, and foster the empowerment of Native American families.

After 4 decades and a large body of research on children's academic success, there is still a need to understand how to increase children's academic performance. Researchers agree that the key component to elementary school children's academic success is parental involvement. However, little is known on how to increase parental involvement and the characteristics of the parents who participate in their children's education. This quantitative study examined 2 parental characteristics, parents' internal attachment patterns and parenting styles, and their relationship with parental involvement and children's academic success. Bowlby's theory of attachment and Baumrind's parenting typologies served as the theoretical framework. Parents who have a child between 7 and 11 years of age (n = 85) from two different western cities completed an online survey via Survey Monkey that consisted of Relationship Scales Questionnaire, Parenting Style Scale, the Parent and School Survey, and a Grade Questionnaire. Linear regression was used to determine if parental involvement mediates the relationship between parents' internal attachment patterns (independent variable Model A) and children's academic success and if parental involvement mediates the relationship between parenting styles (independent variable Model B) and children's academic success. The study found that parental involvement does mediate the relationship between parents' internal attachment patterns and children's academic success. Parental involvement also mediates the relationship between parenting styles and children's academic success. Positive social change includes having a better understanding for increasing academic performance for elementary school children.

Parental involvement has been found to be a significant influence in determining whether adolescents are more likely to succeed academically (Georgiou & Tourva, 2007). Amongst other influences, parental involvement has been shown to impact the ability to resist negative peer influence. Additionally, having a sense of belongingness influences the probability that an adolescent will aspire to achieve higher educational aspirations (Bouchard & Berg, 2017). However, researchers have yet to examine the combination of the importance of belongingness and the impact of positive peer influence on adolescents' educational aspirations. The present study aimed to investigate whether parental involvement had a significant effect on peer influence and belongingness on adolescents’ educational aspirations after controlling for gender and socioeconomic status. This study analyzed data collected as part of the NICHD-SECCYD comprehensive longitudinal study. Specifically, the effects of peer influence and belongingness on educational aspirations were analyzed in AMOS27, using a path analysis model with parental involvement as a predictor variable. Although, the results did not support that sense of belongingness has a significant influence on educational aspirations for self-concept in English and math, it did have a significant influence on self-concept. Furthermore, positive peer influence did not have a significant influence on educational aspirations for self-concept in English, math and sports. Additionally, results did not support sense of belongingness and peer influence as a mediator between parental involvement and educational aspiration. Nevertheless, findings supported that positive parental involvement does have a significant influence on educational aspirations.

In 2012, the Missouri Board of Education took away Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) accreditation status. For over 40 years, KCPS has struggled with poor academic achievement, decreased enrollment and budget, and numerous leadership turnovers. Although KCPS regained provisional accreditation in 2014 and earned enough points on the annual performance report for consideration to become a fully accredited school system, state education officials first want to ensure that the district can sustain its new performance level before granting full accreditation. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore parents' perceptions about how the KCPS' parent involvement policy and practices can be improved to better engage parents in their children's education and assist the school district in regaining and sustaining its full accreditation. Putnam's social capital theory served as the theoretical foundation of this study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with a snowball sample of 21 parents, 7 from each school. Data were analyzed through Braun and Clarke's 6 phases of thematic analysis. Findings indicated the need for school personnel to be more welcoming to visiting parents, creating afterhours activities for working parents, increasing points of contact between parents and school personnel, teachers investing more time and effort in students, and school personnel making more efforts to keep parents informed. The implications for positive social change are directed at KCPS policymakers, school district leaders, teachers, and staff members as findings can be used to develop and improve policies and practices geared towards improving parents' involvement, which may help KCPS to regain and sustain full accreditation.

Parental involvement is a combination of commitment and active participation from parents to the school and to the student. Parental involvement defines the family’s role as educator and the crucial importance of family involvement to students’ success in schools. Some researchers and practitioners consider positive parental involvement the most prominent predictor of student success. Parents can increase children’s academic success through involvement with schools and communities. Parental involvement improves student morale, attitudes, and academic achievement across all subject areas. The purpose of this study was to examine the views of parents, students, teachers, and administrators concerning parental involvement in four high schools in a rural East Tennessee county. The study also attempted to determine if the views of these parents, students, teachers, and administrators are consistent with published reports on parent involvement. Data were collected from administrators, students, parents, and teachers through an open-ended interview format designed by the researcher. The findings from this study offer a number of recommendations regarding how high schools can develop partnership programs that involve families in ways that go beyond their participating as audience or witness to their children’s schooling to their participating as partners with the school in promoting teen’s learning. Participants desired effective home/school communications as well as a home environment that encouraged learning activities and suggested effective ways volunteers could be used at the high school level. Major recommendations include high schools forging connections with all families and providing options to increase their involvement at school as well as at home; establishing formal parent support organizations; developing partnerships that strengthen school-family relationships through authentic dialogue, collaboration, and mutual respect between families and educators; increasing opportunities for home/school communication; and creating a learning community where school personnel, students, parents, and community members view themselves as stakeholders.

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of school culture that influenced college-going rates for high school graduates in northeast Tennessee. The study involved one-toone interviews with selected high school teachers and principals. Six high schools in northeast Tennessee were used in the study. The significance of this study was to generate a grounded theory that could be used to explain the characteristics of school cultures that were effective in supporting students' college-going rates. This knowledge could be used to inform high school principals, school boards, state legislatures and other government bodies, and colleges and universities. Findings in this study indicated that effective schools needed to establish a school culture that exhibited 5 major characteristics. These major characteristics helped schools improve students' performance, they helped improve students attendance rate and reduced students' drop-out rate, and they improved student college-going rate. The 5 characteristics were: (a) communicating high expectations to all stakeholders, (b) building a strong learning community, (c) promoting positive partnership with parents in the education of their children, (d) establishing partnership with local industries, colleges, and universities, and (e) focusing on students' ownership of their learning, students' performance, and students' continuation to higher education. The conclusion made from this study was that communicating high expectations for stakeholders needed to be combined with support for stakeholders, especially for teachers and students, in order to maximize their potential to achieve high goals. Successful schools also needed to establish knowledge base for a community of learners. The learning community would encompass those areas that made the most impact on students' learning. These were: (1) knowledge supporting growth for the corporate faculty, (2) knowledge supporting growth and orientation of new teachers, and (3) knowledge supporting positive partnership with parents in the education of their children. Parental involvement in the education of their children played a major role in improving students' attendance rate; reducing the drop-out rate, and supporting students' college-going rates.