Parental involvement in children's education has been found to have a positive impact on academic achievement. Because the state has mandated that academic achievement in the study district needs to increase, identifying means of increasing parental involvement is important. Guided by the work of Epstein, this quantitative study was conducted to explore demographic factors related to parents' involvement in the education of their children. Specifically, research questions examined differences in parental involvement by socioeconomic status (SES), barriers to involvement for parents, and school strategies to improve parental involvement. Parents of all 5th grade students (n = 935) from a large East Coast urban district were surveyed using the Scale of Parental Involvement to address the research questions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as an independent-samples t test to determine the differences in involvement by SES. A significant difference in parental involvement between low- and high-SES parents was not obtained. Parents reported that barriers such as work hours, lack of feeling appreciated, culture, transportation, and child care prevented full participation in the education of their children. The findings also suggested that districts might increase parental involvement through engaging in more frequent communication with parents; providing more activities to do at home; and providing more time for training, teaching, and meeting. Implications for positive social change include providing research findings to the local district on how to increase the involvement of parents in their children's education.

Siblings demonstrate variable psychosocial adjustment to childhood cancer, ranging from cancer-related post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) to resilience. Theoretical frameworks suggest that PTSS are influenced by appraisals (e.g., fear of mortality) and coping. Siblings’ presence within clinical settings and participation in cancer treatment may allow them to appraise cancer-related experiences as less threatening and utilize engagement coping strategies, but the nature and effect of siblings’ involvement in cancer treatment remains unknown, especially in the context of COVID-19. This mixed-methods research (a) characterized siblings’ involvement in cancer treatment, (b) investigated how siblings’ involvement in cancer treatment, demographics, cancer characteristics, appraisals and coping relate to PTSS, and (c) characterized COVID-19’s impact on siblings. Thirty-eight participants (22 siblings, 16 parents) from 16 families of youth with cancer completed qualitative interviews and quantitative measures. Study 1 qualitatively illustrated treatment involvement. Within the hospital and clinic, siblings emotionally supported patients, observed treatment, and learned about cancer. At home, siblings continued to support patients, assumed helper roles with treatment, and adjusted to new cancer-induced norms (e.g., family diet, cleaning practices). Study 2 used a cross-sectional, convergent, mixed methods design to identify factors related to siblings’ PTSS. Quantitative analyses revealed that siblings’ PTSS were significantly related to siblings’ age, appraisals and coping strategies. Mixed methods analyses showed that siblings who qualitatively described more consistent involvement in treatment, including access to information and opportunities to express emotions, had lower quantitative PTSS scores. Study 3 qualitatively described siblings’ treatment involvement and experience of cancer in the context of COVID-19. Siblings worried about contracting and transmitting COVID-19 to patients, but also described that cancer-related experiences prepared them for pandemic-related precautions. Due to increased time at home, siblings encountered more cancer reminders and had fewer opportunities to “take a break” from cancer. Siblings’ exclusion from clinical settings led to reduced understanding of cancer and increased cancer-related stress. Together, findings suggest that treatment involvement offers opportunities for siblings to process cancer-related cues and use engagement coping techniques, which may facilitate positive adjustment to cancer. Findings have important clinical implications related to (re)establishing family-centered care practices that explicitly include siblings.

The present research investigated the extent to which users? perceived usefulness of IT was related to: (1) the user involvement in its design and implementation; (2) the user hierarchical position in the organization; (3) user years of service in the bank; and (4) user years of experience in banking business. In addition, the researcher examined the differences between males and females regarding the user involvement in design, involvement in implementation, and perception of usefulness of Information Technology (IT). The fifty-two bank users who participated in the study were volunteers from a major bank in the State of Mississippi. Seven research questions guided the study. Literature review on the user involvement in the design and implementation of IT system and their perceived usefulness of the system is inconclusive. Some research findings showed that users perceived the information technology as more useful when they were involved in the design and implementation phases of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). However, there were some research findings that showed that user involvement was not related to the perceived usefulness of IT. The results of this study indicated that there were relationship between users? involvement in the design of IT and their perceived usefulness; it appears that when bank users were involved in the design of IT system, they were more likely to perceive the system as useful. However, the findings showed that there was no relationship between users involvement in the implementation and the perception of usefulness of the information technology system. The results also showed that there was a correlation between users? hierarchical position and their perceived usefulness of the IT system. This could mean that users who occupy high hierarchical position tend to perceive IT as more useful than those on the lower side of the hierarchy. The results also showed that users with more years of service in the bank regard the IT system as more useful than those who have less years of service in the bank. It appears that users with long service in the bank regard the system as more useful than those who have less years of service in the bank. The results also showed that users with more years of experience in the banking business regard the IT system as more useful than those who have less years of experience in the banking business. It appears that users with long years of experience in the banking business regard the IT system as more useful than those who have less years of experience in the banking business. The findings also demonstrated that there were no gender differences regarding involvement in design, involvement in implementation, and perception of usefulness of the IT system.

The relationship between involvement in children's health care, the moderating effects of parenting beliefs between involvement and child health status and use, and the mediating effects of family integrity in fathers' involvement and child health were examined in two separate studies. The first study includes 760 fathers from a national survey project. Involvement, parenting beliefs, and demographic variables were used to predict child health and health use. Fathers' residency status was correlated with the number of times the doctor was consulted and predicted the child's height-to-weight ratio. Participation in fun activities and shopping was associated with sickness and child height-to-weight ratio. No moderation effects were found for parenting beliefs. The second study uses a mixed methods design to which fathers' perceptions of involvement, motivations, barriers, and support by their child's mother are examined qualitatively. The associations between father demographic variables, barriers to attendance, family integrity, and modernity in predicting involvement are and child health status are tested. The mediating effects of family integrity between involvement and child health were also studied quantitatively. Seventeen fathers were included in the qualitative analysis. Fathers perceived that participation in their child's health care is important and felt supported by their child's mother. Barriers to involvement included work-related difficulties and a poor relationship with their child's mother. A total of 52 fathers were included in the quantitative analysis. Fathers' biological relationship to the child was associated with involvement. Additionally, family integrity and parenting beliefs predicted involvement. No evidence was found for mediation effects of family integrity between involvement and child health. These results have implications for community programs and practitioners with the aim of improving child health. / Ph. D.

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The cultivation of parent involvement in America's public schools is no longer an option. Under the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act: No Child Left Behind (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 2001), it is now a mandate. Moreover, in the current climate of emphasis upon student performance and school accountability, schools need not just the support of parents, but also their full involvement in meaningful partnerships. The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a better understanding of the factors that significantly affect the level of parent involvement during the middle-school years. This was accomplished through the use of open-ended interviews with 24 participants in Northeast Tennessee comprised of 4 elementary and 4 middle-school principals along with 16 middle-school parents who were identified by their child's principal as having been highly involved when their child was in elementary school. The findings from this study suggested that the parent and principal perceptions regarding the factors that influence the decline in parent involvement during the middle-school years are often quite different. In general, perceptions of parents and principals that were held in common were those associated with the role of the parent, the positive effects of parent involvement upon student success, and the role of the principal in modeling the encouragement of parent involvement. The finding suggested, however, that there was significant disparity between parent and principal perceptions with regard to how well middle schools encourage parent involvement. Major recommendations included middle schools communicating with feeder elementary schools to identify highly involved parents of rising middle-school students, a system of personally contacting such parents as a means to encourage their continued involvement, and the establishment of a dialogue among parents and educators with regard to developing an action plan based upon best practices.

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