ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
Parent involvement is a concept that is used to describe the ways schools attempt to connect with parents for the educational benefit and support of students. Schools engage in strategies and invest in programs to increase parents’ involvement at and with the school, employ personnel to support parents, and develop workshops aimed at supporting parents’ understanding of academic content as well as to develop partnerships between parents and teachers.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents viewed themselves as partners with their children’s teachers and what they believed their roles were in their children’s education. This qualitative study was conducted through interviews with parents who were recommended by school staff as having above-average or below-average involvement. Ten parents in a low-income public school in the southwestern United States were selected for an initial interview, and four of those ten were chosen as focal parents for additional rounds of interviews. All three rounds of interviews took place over a four month period in the spring. The interviews were used to document and analyze how parents viewed themselves and the roles they have in their children’s schooling.
The findings from this study illustrate the similarities in behavior, attitude, and self-view between parents recommended by school staff as having above-average and below-average involvement. Additionally, this analysis describes how effective partnerships between home and school (including current teachers, former teachers, and school support staff) can help support parents as lifelong advocates for their children. When parents are intentionally made to feel vital as partners in their children’s schooling, their confidence in their ability to support their children’s education is strengthened.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents viewed themselves as partners with their children’s teachers and what they believed their roles were in their children’s education. This qualitative study was conducted through interviews with parents who were recommended by school staff as having above-average or below-average involvement. Ten parents in a low-income public school in the southwestern United States were selected for an initial interview, and four of those ten were chosen as focal parents for additional rounds of interviews. All three rounds of interviews took place over a four month period in the spring. The interviews were used to document and analyze how parents viewed themselves and the roles they have in their children’s schooling.
The findings from this study illustrate the similarities in behavior, attitude, and self-view between parents recommended by school staff as having above-average and below-average involvement. Additionally, this analysis describes how effective partnerships between home and school (including current teachers, former teachers, and school support staff) can help support parents as lifelong advocates for their children. When parents are intentionally made to feel vital as partners in their children’s schooling, their confidence in their ability to support their children’s education is strengthened.
ContributorsQuirk, Jennifer (Author) / Powers, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Uxa, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Student voice has been an inactive component of public education since its conception. Educational practitioners and stakeholders create, define, and uphold federal, state, and local policy centered on growing student educational outcomes. However, most often students are not provided space or opportunities to actively engage with policy or decisions that directly impact their educational experiences. To boost student voice, this action research study explored school participatory budgeting’s impact on student engagement with school decision-making, civic engagement, and leadership development at Arcadia High School. School participatory budgeting (SPB) is an innovative civic learning tool designed for students to learn democracy in action through the process of participating in the student voice committee on campus, developing proposals, and voting to fund improvement projects that build a stronger school community. This study utilized a parallel-results convergent MMAR that involved collecting both qualitative and quantitative data simultaneously, analyzing them separately, and integrating results into study findings. Participants included eight students that were members of the student voice committee. Study participants completed pre- and post-surveys as well as participated in a focus group. The study and intervention were supported by Mitra’s Pyramid of Student Voice and The Social Change Model.
Results of the study indicated that school participatory budgeting had a positive impact on students’ engagement with school decision making, civic engagement, and leadership development. Results also revealed that participants were able to lead change for collective student voice, engage civically through real world application, encourage participatory democracy over elite democracy, and increase both communication and collaborative skills. Furthermore, an integration of quantitative and qualitative data was presented, along with connections to the existing research questions and literature. Additional discussion centered on the limitations of the study, implications for practice, future cycles of research, and recommendations for educational practitioners.
ContributorsJohnson, Sara Anne (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Sackos, Milissa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
ABSTRACTLeading change is one of the most daunting tasks for K–12 site leaders. It is well established that the site leaders’ influence on student learning is profound, and the importance of implementing changes to improve practice is paramount. This action research study aimed to examine how a research-based professional development and coaching program could impact site leaders’ attitudes, beliefs, practices, and the teachers’ perceptions. The study occurred over 14 weeks at a public elementary school. The intervention contained two professional development sessions, which included learning and planned implementation of research-based strategies and weekly coaching sessions once the school year started. The theories that supported this study included change leadership, distributed leadership, transformational leadership, social cognitive theory, sensemaking, and literature on veteran teachers.
A mixed methods action research design using quantitative and qualitative data was gathered simultaneously through a pre- and postintervention collection. Data was gathered from Monday Memos, a staff meeting observation, staff meeting agendas, coaching field notes, the Staff Perception Survey, and interviews which were all used to analyze then address the research questions. During the qualitative data analysis, the codes were categorized, and themes were examined to determine any shifts from the initial data compared to the postintervention data. Due to the small sample size and lack of data normality on the Staff Perception Survey, instead of a conventional t test, the more conservative nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was applied to assess pre-to-post differences. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between the pre- and postintervention survey among individual items or collective construct items (i.e., teacher voice, shared vision, removing obstacles, and building culture).
The results suggest that there was a shift in how the site leaders conceptualized their role as a leader of change through the coaching program intervention. It was expanded, hopeful, and the site leaders saw the increased weight of their role in the impact of leading change. Further, through the research-based coaching program, site leaders changed their practice regarding their consistency and both expanded and shifted change strategies. In conclusion, limitations give perspective while implications for practice and research provide for an exciting future.
ContributorsBaldwin, Jennifer Sue (Author) / Judson, Eugene (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Plough, Bobbie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022