The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the perceptions of caregivers and teachers regarding parental involvement at alternative schools in Eastern North Carolina. The lack of parental involvement at some schools is a systemic issue that involves continued efforts by school staff to include caregivers in promoting student success. The difficulties of engaging parents of alternative students result in little interaction between caregivers and educators. It is essential to understand how caregivers and educators perceive parental involvement and assess the quality of parental participation in an alternative educational setting. A qualitative research method was chosen to comprehensively examine teachers' and caregivers' experiences and perceptions related to parental involvement in alternative school students' education. The researcher utilized criterion-based sampling for participant selection. To participate, caregiver participants must have been a caregiver of an alternative school student. Teacher participants needed to be fully licensed and the teacher of record for a class of alternative school students. Six teachers and six caregivers who met the criterion established for participation consented to be interviewed through Zoom. The findings include themes four key themes: school dynamics valued by caregivers, teacher concerns about the lack of resources and support to involve caregivers, caregiver scheduling conflicts, and caregiver-teacher relationships. Through these findings, caregivers revealed that school culture, student services, academics, and scheduling were all factors that facilitated their involvement. Teachers indicated that their personal experiences with parental participation, the lack of resources, and the quality of relationships they had with caregivers determined their engagement level with caregivers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-5347 |
| Date | 01 May 2021 |
| Creators | Glenn, Irv, II |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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