Matching Items (8)
Description
The signing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 created a need for Title 1 principals to conceptualize and operationalize parent engagement. This study examines how three urban principals in Arizona implemented the mandates of the Act as it pertains to parent involvement. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine how principals operationalize and conceptualize parent involvement as they navigate barriers and laws particular to the state of Arizona. This study sought to understand issues surrounding parent involvement in Title 1 schools in Arizona. The beliefs and interview dialogue of the principals as it pertains to parent engagement provided an understanding of how urban principals in Arizona implement the aspects of No Child Left Behind Act that deal with parent involvement. The research study concluded that parents have community cultural wealth that contributes to the success of the students of engaged parents and that cultural responsive leadership assists principals with engaging parents in their schools. The research concludes that a gap exists between how parents and principals perceive and construct parent engagement versus what is prescribed in No Child Left Behind Act.
ContributorsConley, Loraine (Author) / Brayboy, Bryan (Thesis advisor) / Mccarty, Teresa (Committee member) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The purpose of this study was to determine if social capital for parents in a low-income urban school would develop through structured or unstructured parent-teacher meetings. The parent-teacher meetings were developed to provide opportunities for parents and teachers to meet to build relationships and develop trust through teaching and learning how to support reading fluency and reading comprehension strategies. In order to build relationships between parents and teachers both parties need to trust one another. Trust is the foundation of relationships but before parties can trust one another, opportunities to form relationships need to be provided. In the case of parents and teachers, the study suggests that the parent-teacher meetings might be a starting point to provide opportunities to form trusting relationships. As parents and teachers work collaboratively to support the academic needs of the children, parents will increase their social capital and learn how to navigate the school system. The findings of the parent-teacher meetings showed that the perceptions of parents and teachers varied. The findings of the study did not display any noticeable differences in responses between the structured and unstructured group of participants. Parents appreciated meeting with teachers to learn how to support student learning at home and believed teachers were influential in the educational experience of their children. Teachers believed: parents want to support student learning at home, but lack academic skills; parents are the influential in the educational experience of the students; and parents are hesitant to ask school staff for help.
ContributorsHidalgo, Rosanna (Author) / McCoy, Kathleen M. (Thesis advisor) / Zehrbach, Gareth D (Committee member) / Cocchiarella, Martha A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Preschool children with language delays often struggle to learn new concepts. Proven strategies such as modeling, prompting, reinforcing responses, direct teaching, and hands-on experience matter to young children with language delays. Also important are social interactions and shared experiences with more knowledgeable persons. Within a cultural context Funds of Knowledge, that is the talents, traditions, and abilities families possess and pass down to their children may be a context for these. However, despite their importance the value Funds of Knowledge have has not been explored with parents of children with special needs. This action research study used a mixed-methods design to understand if Funds of Knowledge could be used as context to improve communication between parents and their children and build trust between parents and a teacher. Seven families participated in the study. Quantitative data were gathered with surveys and were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data consisted of transcripts from home-visit interviews, parent presentations, and a focus group, and were analyzed with a grounded theory approach. Results indicate parents entered the study with trust in the teacher especially in terms of having competence in her abilities. Data also show that parents used the language strategies provided to improve communication with their children. Data also indicate that the use of a Funds of Knowledge activity allowed parents to share their knowledge and interests with their children and children in the classroom, feel empowered, and express emotions. From these findings, implication for practice and further research are provided.
ContributorsGonzalez, Alissa Quintero (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Committee member) / Hansen, Cory (Committee member) / Villamil-Rubin, Aura (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT Epilepsy is a neurological condition that sometimes pervades all domains of an affected child's life. At school, three specific threats to the wellbeing of children with epilepsy exist: (1) seizure-related injuries, (2) academic problems, and (3) stigmatization. Unfortunately, educators frequently fail to take into account educationally-relevant epilepsy information when making important decisions. One possible explanation for this is that parents are not sharing such information with teachers. This study surveyed 16 parents of children with epilepsy in order to determine the rate at which they disclosed the epilepsy diagnoses to their children's teachers, as well as the difficulty with which they made the decision to disclose or withhold such information. In addition, the relationships between such disclosure and parent-participants' perceptions of the risks of epilepsy-related injuries, academic struggles, and stigmatization at school were examined. Results indicate that all participants disclosed their children's epilepsy diagnoses to their children's teachers, and most (69%) reported that making this decision was "very easy." There were no statistically significant associations between disclosure and any of three parental perception variables (perceptions of the threats of injury, academic problems, and stigmatization at school). Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.
ContributorsBush, Vanessa (Author) / Wodrich, David L (Committee member) / Blanchard, Jay (Committee member) / Gorin, Joanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This Qualitative Grounded Theory study is based upon interviews with charter school administrators, teachers and Hispanic parents to gather their perspectives on what practices encourage and elevate the participation of Hispanic parents in schools. There were three Guiding Questions utilized: 1) What culturally compatible methods are utilized in order to attract Hispanic parents to choose the particular charter school? 2) What culturally compatible methods does the charter school administration utilize to encourage Hispanic parental involvement in their child's education? 3) What are the benefits of greater Hispanic parent participation for children at these charter schools. Hypotheses were generated from the interviews base upon literature review. For Guiding Queston #1 there were five hypotheses based on a. Personal Interactions/Relationships, b. Environment, c. Language accommodations, d. Communication, e. Family Services. For Guiding Question #2, there were two hypotheses based on: a. Staff experience with Hispanic community and b. Leadership building. For Guiding Question #3, there were three hypotheses based on a. Home/School Partnerships, b. Academics, and c. Physical Presence.
ContributorsRuiz Rosado, Leticia (Author) / Valverde, Leonard A. (Thesis advisor) / Ovndo, Carlos J. (Committee member) / Scribner, Kent P. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
School and educational psychologists have a shared imperative to understand the complex inter-play of a student’s home life and perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the central facet of Bandura’s social cognitive theory (SCT, 1986, 1997). The current study improved upon the extant literature by exploring how home life in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Oklahoma impacts the self-efficacy for self-regulated learning of mid-to-late adolescents. Although it is difficult to identify how specific aspects of life (including home life) matter for particular areas of functioning, the present study explored self-efficacy for self-regulated learning through the lens of three scales of the Late Adolescence version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (LA-HOME) (Caldwell & Bradley, 2016). The LA-HOME documents actions, objects, events and conditions connected with the home environment of children ages 16 to 20, who are still residing at home with parents or guardians (Caldwell & Bradley, 2016). This paper addresses the following research question: How are various aspects of the home life of mid-to-late adolescents, namely (1) modeling and encouragement of maturity, (2) family companionship and investment in adolescent, and (3) warmth, acceptance, and responsiveness, associated with self-efficacy for self-regulated learning? The sample of 333 adolescents is quite diverse demographically; it includes variations in family composition, race/ethnicity, household SES, language spoken in the home, and geography (rural, urban, suburban). The study utilizes a sub-sample of adolescents from the larger study who were 15 to 19 years of age (N = 333). Descriptive statistics, means, and standard deviations are reported for continuous variables, frequencies are reported for categorical variables, and correlations are presented. A hierarchical regression model was estimated in two steps. The first step included the complete set of control variables (household income, ethnicity, gender, and adolescent general health and depressive symptoms), and the second step included the set of three home life indicators. The hierarchical regression model had good fit. Study assets and limitations, as well as alternate theories for consideration and directions for future research, are discussed.
ContributorsGreen, Shannon Noelle (Author) / Bradley, Robert H (Thesis advisor) / Abry, Tashia (Committee member) / Bryce, Crystal I (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Families and schools share the monumental responsibility of educating children. Children and parent-teacher conferences remain the primary means by which parents and teachers share academic information. Given the limited effectiveness of these conferences, a more compelling alternative for home-school collaboration on academic matters is warranted. The purpose of this action research study was to examine an alternative approach to parent-teacher conferences, Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT). APTT is a classroom-based parent involvement model composed of three 75-minute parent-teacher team meetings and an individual 30-minute parent-teacher session. Team meetings are highly structured and include six components: personally inviting parents by the teacher; sharing whole-class and individual student data; setting 60-day academic goals; coaching parents in `teaching' skills; distributing take-home practice materials; and networking. Quantitative data included pre- and post-intervention parent surveys, and pre- and post-intervention student scores on high frequency words and oral reading fluency. Qualitative data included field notes from APTT meetings, pre- and post-intervention teacher reflections, and teacher, parent, and student interviews. Findings from this study supported previous research that suggested most parents have high aspirations for their children's academic success. Findings also indicated parents understood their involvement was important to support academic growth. Increased quality and quantity of parent-teacher communication and interaction improved parents' ability to support student learning at home. Parents increased involvement in children's academics was related to teachers' provision of detailed information and training of parents. Qualitative results showed parents' teaching efforts contributed to students' improvement in reading. To understand this outcome, effectual congruence (EC) was offered as an explanation. EC occurred when parents and teachers agreed on an action plan for student achievement, when there was a mutual commitment to taking specific actions and when each person's role was clearly defined and implemented. EC became the process that supported achievement growth. These results demonstrated that relationships between parents and teachers are complex. Further, when teachers and parents were fully invested in collaboration it produced powerful results for students. This study provided critical information for parents, teachers, administrators and policy makers attempting to implement more effective parent involvement initiatives.
ContributorsParedes, Maria C (Author) / Buss, Ray R (Thesis advisor) / Zambo, Ronald (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Due to federal mandates, Title I schools now are being asked to implement parent involvement programs that meaningfully involve parents in the schools to increase academic gains. This action research study was based on three different concepts from the literature: a) critical pedagogy theory from Paulo Freire, b) parent involvement from diverse scholars including Epstein, Olivos, Mapp, Henderson, and Gonzalez-DeHass, and c) Wenger's communities of practice approach. The study was designed to determine whether a community of practice approach could provide the necessary conditions to meaningfully involve Latino Spanish-speaking parents in school. This innovation took place for 14-weeks, during which the community of practice approach was developed and utilized during meetings. Data were collected during each community of practice meeting at two schools. The data sources were surveys, audio video transcriptions of the meetings, journal, field notes, leadership meetings, and analytic memos. To add reliability and validity, mixed methods were applied to triangulate the data sources. Results indicated that through a community of practice approach Latino Spanish-speaking parents could become meaningfully involved in their children's schools. Parent participants reported that the community of practice allowed them to dialogue, contribute, learn, reflect, and become self-aware of their role in the schools. Data also showed that parent participants applied the community of practice approach to contribute to the solution of problems at their school. After participating in the study, parent participants realized their potential to impact in their children's school. Additionally, they started purposefully becoming more interested in participating and planning activities with the parent liaison. Based on the results, further cycles of action research are suggested.
ContributorsBarrantes Santamaria, Alfredo G (Author) / Jimenez-Castellanos, Oscar (Thesis advisor) / Jimenez-Silva, Margarita (Committee member) / Chavez, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012