Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
June Fishback
Committee Member
Clifford Claiborne
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
attendance, communication, community involvement, educational process, parent education, parent involvement, parent participation, parent training, parent workshops, parenting, parents, perceptions, principals, PTA, PTO, questionnaires, school communication, student attendance, teachers, training effectiveness, volunteering, workshops
Abstract
The applied dissertation was designed to determine the effectiveness of parent training on the involvement of parents in the educational process of their children. The increased emphasis on the inclusion of parents as partners in the education of their children and the growing outcry of parents in the community to become more involved in the schooling process were major factors in the decision to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured training series provided to parents. Training was provided by an external consulting firm.
This researcher developed questionnaires and interviewed parents, teachers and principals to determine their perceptions of the impact of training on the subsequent involvement of participating parents. Questions were based on the six types of parent involvement: Parenting, Communication, Homework, PTA or PTO, Volunteering and Communication with the Community. Secondarily, the researcher analyzed 2 years of attendance data to determine if parents’ participation in the structured training sessions impacted the attendance pattern of their children.
An analysis of the data revealed that parents, teachers, and principals perceived positive changes in parents after their participation in structured training sessions. Parent involvement in Parenting, PTA or PTO and Communicating with the School were the areas showing the greatest positive change. Communication with the community was the area garnering the least degree of positive change. There was minimal positive impact on the attendance of students of participating parents.