Prof. J.C. Kok

This studied investigated parental involvement during the first year of a Chapter I extended-day kindergarten program which sought to promote parents taking an active role in their child's classroom and kindergarten educational experiences. A qualitative design was used to provide information about frequency and types of parental involvement as well as descriptive information about the interactions between parents and children within the classroom. This qualitative design also allowed investigation of the perceptions of the participants. Data analysis was ongoing and inductive; data were collected in the form of field notes, videotapes, audiotapes, interviews and classroom documents. Findings suggest that parental involvement provides benefits for the students, parents, teachers and the school as a whole. Findings also suggest that adult volunteers do not necessarily have to be parents; the adult volunteers could come from segments of the population that are not now fully utilized. Senior citizens and university teacher education students are two groups that could fill the volunteer positions. These findings have implications for the educational community in public schools and in teacher training programs of universities.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Leung, Nga Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-67). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract (English) --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vii / List of Figures --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / An Intergrative Model of Parenting --- p.2 / "Parental Socialization Goals, Practices and Styles" --- p.4 / Academic Socialization Goals and Parental Expectations in Chinese Context --- p.5 / "Parental Socialization Goals, Expectations and Academic Performance" --- p.7 / Parental Expectation and Children's Psychological Development --- p.9 / Perceveid Societal Norms and Socialization Goals --- p.10 / The Importance of Measuring Parental Socialization Goals --- p.13 / Aims and Overview of the Two Studies --- p.13 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Empirical Studies --- p.19 / Study 1: Developing Scales to Measure Maternal Academic Socialization Goals --- p.19 / Method --- p.19 / Instruments --- p.19 / Participants --- p.22 / Measures --- p.23 / Results and Discussion --- p.24 / Psychometric Properties of CPMASG and MASG --- p.24 / "Descriptive Statistics, Preliminary Analysis and Correlation Analysis" --- p.30 / "Study 2: Investigating the Combined Effects of Socialization Goals, Styles, and Practices" --- p.33 / Method --- p.33 / Participants --- p.33 / Measures --- p.34 / Results and Discussion --- p.38 / "Descriptive Statistics, Preliminary Analysis and Correlation Analysis" --- p.38 / Regression Analysis --- p.43 / Structural Equation Modeling --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- General Discussion --- p.55 / References --- p.64 / Appendix --- p.68 / The Original Items Asked in Traditional Way --- p.68

The purpose of this research project was to determine whether a child-centered parent training program requiring minimal training would increase the language skills of LD pre-school children who have normal receptive language. Seven experimental subjects and 6 control subjects were randomly selected from a pool of middle-class families who answered a newspaper advertisement. The parents of the experimental group received 3 individual training sessions over a 3-month period. They were instructed to spend 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, in a free play situation with their children using the language stimulation techniques they had learned, i.e., parallel talk, description, self-talk, and expansion. To eliminate a possible "halo effect" from the attention given the children in the experimental group, the parents in the control group were instructed to spend 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, playing individually with their children.

This study discussed past research, litigation, and legislation that pertained to the topics of parental involvement in special education. Past barriers were discussed that kept parents from interacting and suggestions were provided for future help in overcoming these barriers. In particular, parental perceptions of their roles as communicators and decision makers in the special education process were examined in terms of ethnicity and child’s educational level. Very few items found differences between the perceptions of Hispanic parents when compared to the perceptions of white parents; and some items found as children advance academically, there is less agreement among parents that they were able to be good communicators and good decision makers. Still, this research study showed that, overall, parents in Texas perceive that schools are allowing them to at least adequately fulfill these roles. Thus, the results of this study are much more positive than past research, which indicated that parents felt left out of their children’s education. This more positive perception could be a result of legislation passed to ensure parental roles in educational decision making; it could be a result of actions taken by the state of Texas to monitor the enactment of this legislation; or it could be because schools are taking a more active role in providing best practice services to students and parents in terms of communication and decision-making opportunities; or it could be because the parents who answered the survey were particularly compliant or complacent.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.

This study discussed past research, litigation, and legislation that pertained to the topics of parental involvement in special education. Past barriers were discussed that kept parents from interacting and suggestions were provided for future help in overcoming these barriers. In particular, parental perceptions of their roles as communicators and decision makers in the special education process were examined in terms of ethnicity and child’s educational level. Very few items found differences between the perceptions of Hispanic parents when compared to the perceptions of white parents; and some items found as children advance academically, there is less agreement among parents that they were able to be good communicators and good decision makers. Still, this research study showed that, overall, parents in Texas perceive that schools are allowing them to at least adequately fulfill these roles. Thus, the results of this study are much more positive than past research, which indicated that parents felt left out of their children’s education. This more positive perception could be a result of legislation passed to ensure parental roles in educational decision making; it could be a result of actions taken by the state of Texas to monitor the enactment of this legislation; or it could be because schools are taking a more active role in providing best practice services to students and parents in terms of communication and decision-making opportunities; or it could be because the parents who answered the survey were particularly compliant or complacent.