A pattern of low parental involvement exists at in an inner-city school in the northeast region of the United States, where 90% of the students are students of color and fewer than 10% of parents attend school-based activities. Low parental involvement at the local school may lead to decreased student achievement and limited access to needed resources and information. A qualitative case study design was used to explore the problem. Epstein's typology, which includes the traditional definition of parental involvement and acknowledges the parents' role in the home, provided the conceptual framework for the study. Research questions focused on perceived challenges that prevent parent participation, specific types of parental involvement strategies that are most effective when working with inner-city families, and potential solutions to the problems. Data collection included reviewing reports and conducting individual interviews with 5 elementary school parents, 5 teachers, and the principal at the research site. Inductive data analysis included organizing and categorizing data to develop themes related to the problem and perceived solutions. Findings revealed ineffective home-school communication, language differences, and a lack of shared meaning regarding parental involvement between parents and teachers. Identification of these challenges led to development of a 3-day professional learning series for parents, teachers, and administrators that focused on benefits of parental involvement. Implementation of the program may help to facilitate building of school-family community partnerships to empower parents to support their children's learning at home and at school.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Community and Continuing Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The study reports on an exploration of the challenges affecting School-Family Community partnerships in two secondary schools located in the remote rural areas of Mogodumo Circuit, in Lebowakgomo District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The main research question answered was. What are the challenges of School-Family-Community partnerships in rural areas at Mogodumo Circuit in Limpopo Province? This study is qualitative in design and is embedded within the interpretive epistemology. The two secondary schools were conveniently sampled due to their accessibility whereas participants were also purposefully sampled. The number of participants sampled was n=32. Data was collected through documents analysis, semi-structured questionnaires involving sampled participants, and observation by the researcher as a silent and non-participant observer. Inductive analysis was applied to arrange and organise data in thematic categories. From the themes discovered, intervention strategies were developed in order to address the challenges affecting the School-Family-Community partnerships at the two rural secondary schools. The study revealed that there is little or no involvement of stakeholders such as parents, community leaders (including priests, pastors, headmen, and the chief), and community based businesspeople, and non-governmental organisations in school events, activities and functions. The study recommends that developmental programmes such as parenting, literacy and numeracy, and parent involvement in the education of their children be organised for parents and community members. These challenges affecting School-Family-Community partnerships need to be dealt with accordingly by the active involvement and engagement of various stakeholders including, more especially, the DBE, SMTs, NGOs, educators, learners, parents, various community members, and private sectors.

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