Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Education reform efforts in the last fifteen to twenty years at the state and federal levels have provisions for family/community involvement in the schools based on beliefs that partnerships lead to higher student achievement and better outcomes for students, parents and teachers. These requirements have embraced the concept of parent and community involvement in various forms including some aspects of school governance. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 included this concept of participatory governance with the establishment of local school councils (LSC). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the function and influence of local school councils on school improvement and to provide a better understanding of the role of parent/family and community involvement in those efforts. Data was gathered over a nine month period in three elementary schools in different communities through observation of school council meetings; interviews with various members of the school community, and review of relevant materials. Results of data analysis showed that the function and influence of local school councils on school improvement, and the impact of parent and community involvement on school council function were related to the overall culture of the school. Parent involvement in the school and parent influence on the work of the school council was strengthened by the relationship with the parent organization and other parent involvement activities in the school. The attitude and commitment to parent involvement present in the school culture, as well as, the efforts to recruit parent and community members with the resulting parity in membership also influenced the work of the school council. The results mirrored previous research that showed inconsistencies in the implementation of school councils across the country, that the evidence of their influence on school improvement has been limited, and that schools with existing parent involvement activities before the initiation of school councils had more positive influence on school improvement. Recommendations for further research in family-school relationships, training and oversight of school councils, training for educators, and the allocation of more state and local resources to support school improvement efforts are discussed.

An ethnographic approach was used to determine how families of young special needs children and the staff of an early intervention program perceived the process of developing an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). With the emphasis placed by Public Legislation 99-457 on family involvement when treating these children the study was organized to better understand the environment as a culture where families and professionals interacted. A naturalistic investigation was considered the most appropriate way to gather these data. Five families were followed over a nine-month period where they were observed during all aspects of the Early Intervention (EI) program and were interviewed about the IFSP document and process. Another five families served as a focus group in order to validate the data. The data revealed that perceptions were associated with decision making, whether the IFSP was child or family focused, and how families and staff related based on their assumptions about reach other's roles. The results are discussed in terms of how cultural imperatives construct the way early intervention programs operate and how they must be taken into consideration if families are to be fully incorporated into the education of their disabled child.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:33:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Chirley Maria de Souza Almeida Santos.pdf: 2345481 bytes, checksum: 27bbda49bf28923f36e3b051d2bb99b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This current work, analyzing narratives and information collected through the means of interviews and observation, examined the work realized by the professionals of education of the CECI-Jaraguá (center of education and indigenous culture, school belonging to the network of education of the municipality of Sao Paulo, Brazil). The reflections made with base at the data had as reference the fact that such educational center is an instrument to the strengthening of the traditional Guarani culture, transforming in school content their cosmology and customs resulted from the way of life, besides the knowledge that the elderly of the tribe carry on. The presence of the school in the community is also justified by the necessity of the indigenous understand the world of the juruá (non indigenous). It was verified that the processes of preservation of customs and native beliefs taken away in an institution (the school) that does not make part of the Guarani culture, as long as the education of the children was historically promoted in the interaction and integration of them in the activities of the adults, show the transformation such of the tradition as the school, without meaning the loss of the cultural identity. For this reason, the concept of frontier by Fredrik Barth was fundamental to the interpretation of the data / O presente trabalho, analisando narrativas e informações coletadas por meio de entrevistas e de observação, examinou o trabalho realizado pelos educadores do CECI-Jaraguá (Centro de Educação e Cultura Indígena escola pertencente à rede de ensino município de São Paulo). As reflexões realizadas com base nos dados teve como referência o fato de que tal centro educacional é um instrumento para o fortalecimento da cultura tradicional Guarani, transformando em conteúdo escolar a sua cosmologia e os costumes decorrentes do modo de vida, além da do conhecimento que os mais velhos da aldeia carregam. A presença da escola na comunidade também se justifica pela necessidade de os indígenas compreenderem o mundo dos juruá (não indígenas). Verificou-se que os processos de preservação de costumes e crenças levado adiante em uma instituição (a escola) que não faz parte da cultura Guarani, visto que a educação das crianças foi historicamente promovida na interação e integração delas nas atividades dos adultos, evidencia a transformação tanto da tradição como da escola, sem que isso signifique a perda da identidade cultural. Por essa razão, o conceito de fronteira de Fredrik Barth foi fundamental na interpretação dos dados