Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Alnita B. Harrison
Advisor
James Ann Lynch
Committee Member
Michael Griffin
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
as-400 database, behavior management, classroom discipline, classroom management, classroom techniques, comparative analysis, discipline data, discipline referrals, disciplinary policies, instructional time, middle schools, Morrow Middle School, parent conferences, parent contact logs, parent contact via telephone, parent drop-in visitations, parental involvement, parental involvement surveys, parent exchange visitations, parent participation, quantitative data, school discipline, staff development, student behavior, teacher perceptions, teachers, workshop implementation
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to determine the effect of parental involvement on discipline referrals. Evidence of these changes was based on data collected and analyzed from parental involvement surveys, discipline-tracking sheets, parent contact logs, parent conference forms, and discipline data collected from the AS-400 Database. Based on a previous survey conducted during the 2001-2002 school year, teachers identified lack of parental involvement as a major concern regarding the school’s discipline policy.
This project also focused on the effect of classroom management on discipline referrals. A total of 36 parental involvement surveys were given to 7th-grade, 8th-grade, and summer school teachers at Morrow Middle School before and after the implementation of a parental involvement plan and classroom management workshop. The writer incorporated a variety of parental involvement strategies into the school’s discipline policy. Parental involvement strategies implemented were as follows: (a) parent contact via telephone, (b) parent conferences on discipline, (c) parent drop-in visitations, (d) staff development on classroom management, and (e) parent exchange visitations. Teachers were required to contact parents about inappropriate behaviors, school behaviors, and behaviors that disrupted instructional time. The comparison of discipline referrals from the 2001-2002 school year to the 2002-2003 school year and teachers’ perceptions of parental involvement determined the effectiveness of parental involvement strategies using surveys and quantitative data.
Discipline data collected and analyzed from the AS-400 revealed a decrease in the number of discipline referrals. An analysis of the parental involvement surveys identified a positive change in teachers’ perceptions regarding the affect of parental involvement and classroom management on discipline referrals at the middle school level.