The problem of the study was to investigate the health education content areas taught by home school educators in Indiana. The study was designed to answer the following research questions: (a) What was the content taught in home schools health education curricula? (b) To what extent were home educators presenting health education curricula? (c) What were the means by which health education is delivered by home school educators? (d) What was the amount of training home educators have received in preparation to teach health education?An instrument was developed, pilot tested, and administered to a random sample of 600 home school educators registered with the Indiana Department of Education. Eighty five instruments were returned for a response rate of 14% and appropriate descriptive statistics were generated.From the analysis of the data it was found that home school educators were teaching health education 87.05%, the majority of health education was taught during non-structured teachable moments, the Bible was the most used curriculum guide 55.41%, the number one resources used was the public library 62.16%, and the majority of home school educators in the study had at least some college education 75.31%. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

This study examined the role of family literacy practices in children’s development of literacy skills in Botswana. The study addressed one main research question and seven sub-questions. The main research question was “how do parents promote early literacy development of children?” Purposive sampling was used to obtain the sample for the study and fourteen parents of the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory participated in the study. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews with the participants, and questionnaire for data collection. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed in line with the phenomenological approach. The findings indicated that parents of the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory owned and used various literacy materials and resources to enhance their children’s literacy skills development. It also became apparent that the parents engaged various unstructured activities to enhance children’s literacy development in their homes. Furthermore, the study identified time constraint as a major challenge that parents faced. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level and degree of satisfaction of parents whose mentally handicapped child was receiving special education and/or related services provided by public school systems.One-hundred and thirty parents responded to three instruments constructed for this study.Findings MANOVA results revealed significant differences among the three parental groups (parents of mild, moderate, and severe/profound children) on the attitude measure toward the special education placement of their children. Post hoc tests and mean comparison data indicated that parents of mildly mentally handicapped children were more satisfied with the special education services than were the two other comparison groups.Data analysis using ANOVA indicated that sex of parents and level of retardation of the child had no significant main effect on the knowledge level of services mandated by Public Law 94-142.Pearson correlation coefficient results suggested that the special education program variables indicated higher positive linear correlation with the degree of parental satisfaction with the special education placement of their mentally handicapped children, than did the demographic variables.Conclusions and Recommendations Parents in this study lacked knowledge of their legal rights pertaining to special education programming and related services. Future research should be directed to understand the interactions among factors that might affect parents' knowledge of PL 94-142.Workshops and inservice programs should be organized and on-going to inform parents of their rights and responsibilities under state and federal special education laws, as well as implementing ways for increasing their involvement in supporting their child's education in the least restrictive educational setting.Inservice workshops should be carried out for regular teachers to ensure that those involved with the education of exceptional children possess competencies necessary to perform their jobs adequately. An array of service alternatives and placement options is necessary to meet the varied needs of all young mentally handicapped children.Future research on parental attitudes toward the special education placement of their mentally handicapped children should take into consideration cause-effect relationships, as well as the interrelatedness of child, parent, and program variables. / Department of Special Education

The purpose of this study was to document relationships that exist between Indiana public-school superintendents and Indiana home-school families. The study examined if public-school superintendents' perceptions of home schooling and their perceptions of current Indiana home-school regulations influenced their relationships with home schoolers. Further, the study explored home-schooler perceptions of Indiana regulations on home schooling.For the superintendent questionnaire, the entire population of Indiana school district superintendents in office during the 1996-1997 school year was polled. Of the 297 superintendents polled, 192 responded to the initial mailing and three more to the follow-up resulting in a total of 195 responses- a return rate of 66%. The desired population for the home schoolers was all home-school families in Indiana. Based on the Indiana Department of Education estimate of 5500 home-school families registered with them, 550 questionnaires were mailed to home-school families with a 26% return rate.The following conclusions were drawn based on the findings in the study.1. Indiana public-school superintendents probably have a weaker relationship with the home-school parents in their school district than they believe. While nearly 65% of the superintendents believed they had at least a fair relationship with the home schoolers in their district, only 35.5% of the home-school parents believed their relationship with the superintendent was at least fair.2. Home schoolers desire more interaction with the public schools than they are receiving.Twenty percent of the home schoolers who did not have access to services at their local school wanted access to classes and textbooks from their local school district.3. Indiana superintendents are not knowledgeable about reasons parents choose to home school their children. Superintendents believed religion was a reason for home schooling in significantly larger numbers than the home-school parents (86% superintendents verses 55% of home-school parents). Superintendents did not recognize home-school parent concerns such as safety concerns, concerns with academics and problems with public schools.4. All Indiana public schools need a board-approved policy concerning home-schooled students in their district.5. There are children in Indiana receiving little or no education through home schooling.6. Home schoolers in the present Indiana study, for the most part, are representative of home schoolers across the United States.7. While the public perception of home schools has improved significantly in the last decade, superintendents' perceptions of home schools have changed little. Superintendents' perceptions of home schooling were virtually unchanged from the Lindley study completed in 1985. Superintendents believed home schools should have to participate in mandatory testing of students, certification of home-school teachers and should have mandatory registration with the state of Indiana. / Department of Educational Leadership

This qualitative study was designed to investigate Millennial Family Members and their impact on higher education. The goal of this research was to richly describe the institution-student-parent relationship. Eighteen interviews were conducted with parents of first year students in order to gather descriptive data. The researcher had contact with the family members through "The Conference on Student Success."Five conclusions emerged. Millennial Family Members:1. Have a very different role in their student's higher education process than their parents did.2. Have expectations that the University guarantee safety, provide life lessons and career development.3. Communicate regularly with their students regarding all aspects of their lives including academic work, social issues, community concerns, and financial issues.4. Believe that they have a strong and essential influence on their college student.5. Interact with Student Affairs and Academic Affairs departments on behalf of their students.Implications of these findings and future directions for research were discussed. / Department of Educational Studies

Parental involvement has been identified as a targeted strategy to improve the academic achievement of children, and thus, educational reform policies and efforts have been created and implemented within the schools in order to bridge the achievement gap. Most educational reform efforts concerning parental involvement have focused on the involvement of parents from lower socioeconomic status and various ethnic and racial groups, including single mothers across these categories. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to understand how single working Black mothers became involved in their children’s education, the reasons why they were involved, and how they constructed their identity and meaning of an involved parent in their children’s education. In an attempt to move beyond the traditional models of parental involvement that place heavy emphasis on the presence of parents within the schools, this study aimed to recognize the efforts of mothers as they relate to their children’s overall growth and development within their homes and community in order to reconceptualize the meaning of parental involvement. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a parent rating scale to screen for individuals with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). Scale construction began with extensive literature review and concluded with the adoption of Rourke’s conceptualization of the NLD syndrome. The behavioral manifestations in the areas of language, academics, adaptive and socioemotional functioning of Rourke’s model were deduced to be reasonable NLD constructs for the parent rating scale. An Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) group was used to test the sensitivity of the parent rating scale in differentiating NLD from AS in view of their several shared characteristics. The literature supported the presence of “unusual, restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities” that typically are seen in AS but not seen in NLD as one probable differentiating factor. Hence, Likert scale items were written for 5 constructs - Language Assets and Deficits, Academic Assets and Deficits, Adaptive Deficits, Socioemotional Deficits, and Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behavior. Validation of the NLD parent rating scale began with data collection from the AS, NLD and Control groups. The NLD and AS groups consisted of parents of children who had been diagnosed in a clinical setting. The Control group children had never been evaluated for special education services by the school system or clinically diagnosed. Subjects were 14 in the AS group, 45 NLD, and 46 Control group. Discriminant groups validity test indicated that the AS, NLD and Control groups were significantly different from one another on the 4 extracted factors i.e., Socio-Conceptual, Asperger’s Syndrome, Adaptive and Learning Style. Thus, it may be concluded that the parent rating scale is discriminating in screening for individuals with NLD. The construct that most differentiates NLD from Control is the Socio-Conceptual deficits factor, which demonstrates the significant difficulty of individuals with NLD in interpreting the subtleties and nuances in social interactions and in understanding concepts. The NLD and AS groups were significantly different on the Learning Style factor but could not be differentiated on the other three factors, thus supporting literature that NLD and AS have overlapping characteristics and yet are distinctive disorders / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of family factors and family involvement in family literacy programs in Taiwan. The 617 participants consisted of five principals, nine schoolteachers, three local library heads, and 300 parent/grandparent and child pairs, the latter aged 3-8. Five questionnaires, 339 children's book logs, 17 interviews, and observations during 30 family visits were employed to gather data. Principal-component analysis, analysis of variance, and a grounded theory approach were utilized to analyze the information gathered, The 208 families in the 8-week home-school reading program and the 131 families in the follow-up 7-week home-library summer reading program were asked to read children's books provided by the school or borrowed from the local library, to record book logs on a daily basis, and to complete questionnaires. The participating principals, teachers, and local library heads were interviewed. Results showed that no one single factor in this study determined all of the outcomes and benefits of the family literacy programs, although several family factors (e.g., children's age, parental education, occupation, and gender) had statistically significant effects on some aspects of family involvement such as families' typical and favourite reading activities, and encouragement of children's participation in the programs. Families' commitment to reading with their children was a salient factor in involvement in the family literacy programs. The participating children read with their family members, tutors, and friends. Most of the parents reported that their children had positive attitudes toward reading after participating in the family literacy programs. Principal-component analysis revealed four factors of perceived benefits from the programs: social skill-related benefits, literacy-related benefits, action-related benefits, and cognition-related benefits. Families who had participated in a previous family literacy program reported more positively about the outcomes of the programs than other families. Choral reading was found unexpectedly in family literacy practices. The parents' active correction of their children's oral reading and their concern about their children's reading skills and comprehension abilities suggest that family involvement in the family literacy programs may be related to their high expectation of their children's academic achievement. Four types of family involvement in family literacy programs emerged and a theoretical model of family factors was proposed.

This study investigates the complex nature of how Tongan mothers in New Zealand contribute to their young children's ako (learning, and general education) in their homes, in the early childhood centre and primary school settings, and in church and the community. It argues that the mothers' contribution to their children's ako is based mainly on their cultural background, educational experience in Tonga, and their Christian faith, plus new knowledge they have picked up in New Zealand. Through the use of talanoa (conversation, questions and discussion) in Tongan and English languages, data were gathered from a small community in a town in the North Island, New Zealand and were coded, analysed, and presented. The participants draw on skills and knowledge of child-rearing strategies and educational practices experienced in Tonga before their migration to this country. However, when implemented in New Zealand, some aspects prove contradictory to the current practice in Aotearoa. The mothers find these emerging tensions frustrating, yet ongoing, but new learning in this country and their Christian faith help enhance their practice. The findings show that the mothers' use of Tongan language, cultural values, beliefs, and practices, with the lived experience of their Christian faith, is effective in teaching the children social and moral education, while contributing to their academic learning and still be preserving their Tongan culture, language, and identity. The mothers' shared use of Tongan language, cultural values and Christian faith enable them to create and maintain good relationships with teachers and other mothers for making worthwhile contributions to their children's ako in the selected contexts. Most of the mothers are involved in most activities, and nearly all participate where Tongan language is used and Tongan culture and Christianity are practised. It is acknowledged that some contributions create dilemmas and mismatches of expectations between the women and mainstream educational institutions. The women's efforts, accessing information in Tongan, and operating in education using faka-Tonga ways, and creating warm relationships among the mothers, teachers, and children who contribute to one another's learning reveal the complex nature of mothers' contributions to their children's education. They shuttle from one context to another, using their faka-Tonga ways, views and practices to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities, while going through transformation in their participation. Based on these findings, implications for mothers, teachers/educators, researchers, and policymakers are considered, and suggestions for future research directions are made that may benefit the growing Tongan population since it is they who have the main responsibility for young Tongan children's ako in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

The issue of decentralisation has been one of the top priorities of the Namibian education system since independence in 1990. One of the decentralisation aims was to enhance parental involvement in education by establishing School Boards. However, School Boards and the role of parents in school management have been considered ineffective for several years which led to the promulgation of Education Act 16 of 2001 in which the roles of School Boards are strengthened and clarified. This study sought to investigate School Board members’ perceptions, understanding and experiences of parents’ involvement in school governance more specifically after the implementation of the Education Act of 2001 in 2003. This study is an interpretive case study of one combined rural school in the Ohangwena educational region of Namibia. This research employed three data collection techniques, namely semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The main findings of this study reveal that there is a lack of joint understanding and shared vision between educators and parents in the School Board. This problem underpins other more symptomatic problems, such as lack of accountability in the matter of school finances, differences in understanding the roles of School Board members and lack of parents’ motivation from the school management. The study further reveals the ineffectiveness and insufficiency of the training provided in the past. It highlights some of the challenges that hinder the effective involvement of parents in rural school governance, such as poor educational background among parents, poor knowledge of the English language and poor understanding of educational issues. However the findings also acknowledge parents’ participation and their full involvement in decision-making. The findings show that the new School Board elected in terms of the Education Act of 2001 has been more effective than previous School Boards and has reached a number of achievements such as being instrumental in solving disciplinary problems, purchasing school assets and renovating classrooms. Recommendations for practice and for further research are made.