Although policy and research support family-school partnerships to increase student achievement, few studies have attempted to determine which variables influence such partnerships. This study relied on a national dataset of 1,004 parents of students with disabilities. Respondents completed a 163-item, web-based questionnaire. Variables were divided into three categories: child, parent, and school.
Results revealed four parent and school characteristics that significantly relate to family-school partnerships. Stronger family-school partnerships related to: increased satisfaction with services, frequent parent-school communication, and parents who were more extroverted. Increased parental special education advocacy and knowledge activities related negatively to family-school partnerships, with parents of older students more likely to show increased knowledge and advocacy activities.
This study has important implications for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Future researchers should longitudinally examine family-school partnerships. Practitioners should focus on increasing communication between the school and the family; policymakers should consider these results in relation to future reauthorizations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-06152012-100637 |
| Date | 10 August 2012 |
| Creators | Burke, Meghan Maureen |
| Contributors | Julie Lounds Taylor, Ruth Wolery, Elisabeth Dykens, Erik Carter, Robert Hodapp |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-06152012-100637/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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