Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Twomey / Thesis advisor: Robert Starratt / This qualitative case study focused on K-2 Parent Involvement in a small rural elementary school. It was designed to review the types of parent involvement that occur over time and to identify the most effective forms of parent involvement. The study also investigated specific teacher beliefs and behaviors related to parent involvement and documented any changes in these beliefs and behaviors as a result of being in the study. A final review of challenges to parent involvement was documented. Data was collected from six volunteer teachers working in kindergarten, grade one, and grade two. Data collection tools included staff pre and post interviews, staff surveys, classroom parent involvement logs, and teacher monthly reflection prompts. The findings of the study indicate that teachers do value parent involvement and that they believe they encourage this involvement in their classroom. The teachers also believe there is a link between parent involvement and student achievement. The teachers in this study identified many challenges to the creation of a parent involvement program including time constraints of parents and teachers, a classroom and school structure that may not welcome or support parent involvement, as well as an education or training issue for parents, so that they may understand the benefits of parent involvement. It was also suggested that teachers would benefit from professional development in the area of parent involvement. Implications for practice include offering workshops for parents on curriculum expectations and on the importance of parent involvement, professional development for teachers highlighting the need for parent involvement, initiating a coordinated school wide parent involvement program, and creating a welcoming and supportive school climate that encourages parent involvement. Limitations to the study include the small sample size, the short duration of the study, and the researcher's role as superintendent. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

MASTER OF EDUCATION in the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY of the FACULTY OF EDUCATION at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2006. / The aims of this study are: ~ To pursue a study of relevant literature on the parent-educator partnership. ~ To undertake an empirical investigation concerning parents and educators as partners in the education of the child. ~ To formulate certain recommendations that may serve as guidelines for the establishment of an effective partnership between parents and educators at schools. Research with regard to this study will be conducted as follows: ~ A literature study of available relevant literature. ~ An empirical survey comprising a questionnaire to be completed by educators. Chapter 2 will be a literature review on the parent-educator partnership. Chapter 3 will explain the planning of the empirical research. Chapter 4 will be a presentation and analysis of the research data. Chapter 5 will contain a summary, findings and recommendations.

The purpose of this study was to examine the high school teacher's perceptions of parent involvement and how viewpoints differ based on years of experience and the population served. The study consisted of a survey with open-ended questions given to teachers and administrators and other non-classroom instructional personnel at a high socio-economic school and at a low socio-economic school. The surveys were analyzed and data were presented based on the viewpoints of teachers with fewer than six years of experience, between six and fourteen years of experience and greater than fifteen years of experience. Responses were also presented from non-classroom educators such as guidance counselors and administrators. There were five findings emerging from this study. The first finding revealed that teacher perceptions of parent involvement varied between low and high socio-economic schools. Another finding discovered that the group of students being taught may play more of a role in teacher perception of parent involvement than the socio-economic status of the school. The third finding was teacher perceptions of key characteristics of parent involvement don't necessarily align with ways teachers say parents are involved. The next finding revealed that teachers communicate with parents via various forms of technology. The final finding exposed that teachers feel that school related involvement at home is important. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of School Home Links activity guide homework on kindergarten Texas Primary Reading Inventory scores. Student Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) scores were obtained and analyzed for gains in score from the Middle of Year (MOY) and End of Year (EOY) administration. Parents were provided School Home Links Activity Guide Homework to use with their child on a weekly basis for twelve weeks. This group formed an experimental group. A control group did not receive SHL activity guide homework. For the control and experimental group each student's letter/sound score was entered into SPSS for the MOY and EOY TPRI, and average gains were calculated. Groups of students were isolated and analyzed for gain based upon participation in a district reading program, and/or high or low parental involvement in SHL activity guide homework. Research in the upper grades shows that homework completion and parent involvement positively affect student achievement. Students whose parents are involved in their education reap many benefits. These benefits include higher academic achievement (Davies, 1991). Fuller & Olsen (1998), Davies (1991), and Epstein (1995) believe parent involvement is a stronger indicator of student achievement than socioeconomic status, parent education, ethnicity, or any other indicator. The research supports the use of homework for upper grades. The results of this study remain inconclusive for kindergarten age students. This study shows that there is no statistically significant difference between experimental and control group kindergarten TPRI scores when homework is an independent variable.

This study examines ethnic group differences on different dimensions of parentrated and teacher-rated parent involvement after adjusting for the influence of family socioeconomic factors, and the role of involvement scale in moderating ethnic differences in parent involvement. Parents and teachers provided information on parent involvement for 476 first-grade children attending one of three school districts (1 urban, 2 small city) in Southwest Texas, who were recruited in two sequential cohorts to participate in a larger longitudinal study on the impact of grade retention on academic achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Parents rated the following four dimensions of parent involvement: Positive Perceptions about School, Communication, Parent-Teacher Shared Responsibility, and Parent School-Based Involvement. Teachers rated the following three dimensions of parent involvement: Alliance, General Parent Involvement, and Teacher Initiation of Involvement. The two research hypotheses generated for this study were partially supported by the data. As predicted, controlling for parent education and employment status, the data showed significant ethnic/racial group differences in Communication (parent-rated), Alliance (teacher-rated), and General Parent Involvement (teacher-rated). In addition, ethnic differences in parent involvement were moderated by the type of involvement for teacher ratings. However, contrary to prediction, no significant ethnic differences were found in Parent School- Based Involvement (parent-rated) whereas significant ethnic differences were noted in Parent-Teacher Shared Responsibility (parent-rated). In addition, ethnic differences in parent involvement were not moderated by the type of involvement for parent ratings. Current results demonstrated a low correspondence between parent ratings and teacher ratings on parents’ school-based involvement. Possible explanations and implications for current findings and suggestions for future research were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of School Home Links activity guide homework on kindergarten Texas Primary Reading Inventory scores. Student Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) scores were obtained and analyzed for gains in score from the Middle of Year (MOY) and End of Year (EOY) administration. Parents were provided School Home Links Activity Guide Homework to use with their child on a weekly basis for twelve weeks. This group formed an experimental group. A control group did not receive SHL activity guide homework. For the control and experimental group each student's letter/sound score was entered into SPSS for the MOY and EOY TPRI, and average gains were calculated. Groups of students were isolated and analyzed for gain based upon participation in a district reading program, and/or high or low parental involvement in SHL activity guide homework. Research in the upper grades shows that homework completion and parent involvement positively affect student achievement. Students whose parents are involved in their education reap many benefits. These benefits include higher academic achievement (Davies, 1991). Fuller & Olsen (1998), Davies (1991), and Epstein (1995) believe parent involvement is a stronger indicator of student achievement than socioeconomic status, parent education, ethnicity, or any other indicator. The research supports the use of homework for upper grades. The results of this study remain inconclusive for kindergarten age students. This study shows that there is no statistically significant difference between experimental and control group kindergarten TPRI scores when homework is an independent variable.

Abstract The difference in educators’ and immigrant parents’ definition of parent involvement has led to the view that immigrant parents are less involved in their children’s education than native parents from the middle class (Crozier & Davies, 2005). The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of three immigrant parents born in Africa and the Caribbean with parent involvement in their children’s education at the elementary level. This phenomenological study utilized semi-structured interviews to gain a better understanding of the various ways in which immigrant parents are involved in their children’s education, and the factors that influenced how they became involved. The findings revealed that the essence of the parents’ experience of involvement in their children’s education was maintaining nurturing relationships. Participants guided their children into a relationship with God, they cultivated a loving relationship with their children, and had a cooperative relationship with their children’s school. The parents’ experience is explored using the themes spiritual leadership, creating and nurturing relationships, and anticipatory socialization. The description of the parents’ experiences provides some insight into how immigrant parents view and enact their role in their children’s education. The study also highlights how different cultural beliefs influence the ways in which parents contributed to their children’s development. The parents were already making contributions in a variety of ways to their children’s education. However, for the most part their activities were home-based and geared towards only their own children. There were opportunities for the parent to become more involved in ways that would extend to other members of the school community. The implications of this study for practice are that educators should give an orientation to parents new to Canada about strategies they can use to incorporate school based involvement activities into their busy schedules. This will suggest ideas that parents may not have considered and could be effective in increasing their involvement on the school compound. Implications for future research include the need to investigate how culture delimits the ways in which parents become involved. There is also a need to explore what factors would motivate immigrant parents to become more involved in their children’s education on the school site.

Parent involvement is as an important contributor to students' academic and social success in school. However, parent involvement at a suburban public K-4 school has lagged, specifically in activities that have been shown to have a positive influence on student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine parents' perceptions about their involvement in school activities as a means of identifying strategies to increase their engagement. A conceptual framework based on Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's motivational constructs for involvement guided this study. The research questions focused on parents' perceptions of their participation, reasons for and against engaging in school activities, and what the school could do to support their involvement. A purposeful sampling method was used to select participants from among 3rd and 4th grade parents. A basic qualitative design was used to capture the insights of 9 parent participants through individual interviews. Emergent themes were identified through open coding, and the findings were developed and checked for trustworthiness through member checking, an audit trail, reflexivity, and rich descriptions. The findings revealed that parents perceived teachers and administrators should welcome their involvement, create events that recognize parent challenges, and engage parent support. A professional development project was created to provide teachers with strategies to develop effective parent-teacher teams. This study has implications for positive social change by providing a structure to increase parent involvement in constructive and purposeful partnerships with teachers and the school. This in turn could positively influence students' academic journey and achievement.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Previous research conducted in regular public and private schools has shown that parent involvement in a child's schooling is positively related to student outcomes (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). Though the creation of charter schools has purportedly expanded the possibilities for families to participate in their children's schooling, little is known about actual practices of parent involvement in charter schools. This case study explores the nature of parent involvement in a sixth- through twelfth- grade, urban charter school in order to verify and extend findings from research conducted in other school settings. The data come from surveys of and group interviews with faculty members, families, and students; observations of parent involvement events; and individual interviews with the school's founders. Two prevalent themes emerged from this study. The first reveals a sharp contrast between the founders' philosophical orientations with respect to home-school relationships and those of the families, students, and faculty members. The founders believe that the school and home are, and should be, distinct and separate institutions of support for student achievement and adolescent development. The second theme uncovered in this study concerns the faculty's citations of "cultural difference" as a key justification for why involvement at the school has proven challenging. The study shows that these perspectives shape the school's practices of partnership with families and that the philosophical and ideological positions taken by school personnel are best understood against a broader socio-historical context. The problems with parent involvement exhibited in this study are viewed as both a product of the underlying philosophical assumptions about school and family partnerships held by the founders, as well as a continuation of historically grounded patterns of home and school interaction as articulated by the faculty. The case study of this charter school verifies previous research and extends our understandings of home-school partnership into the new context ofthe charter school. / 2031-01-01

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