Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Louis Traina
Committee Member
Lucille Beisner
Committee Member
Ronald A. Newell
Keywords
developmentally appropriate practices, educational workshops, Grade 2 students, home-school transition, parent awareness, parent education, parent participation, parent-teacher communication, partnerships in education, private schools, school readiness, second grade students, student development, teacher observation, transition support programs, workshop effectiveness
Abstract
This dissertation was designed to increase parent awareness of age-appropriate practices in a Grade 2 private school setting. Grade 2 students were experiencing difficulty with transitioning from the home environment to the school environment. There was no program in place to help parents understand the problems with transition and age-appropriate activities to help their children.
The subjects involved in this study attended a series of workshops designed to increase their knowledge, comprehension, and approval of developmentally appropriate practices. Research-based information was shared during the workshops and communication was maintained between the researcher and participants in the study. Subjects observed teachers and students in the Grade 2 classrooms to better understand teaching strategies that could be reinforced at home.
The purpose of this applied dissertation was to determine the need for an ongoing parent education program to assist parents in helping their children have a successful transition from the home environment into a Grade 2 setting. The results of the study showed that the workshops were effective in improving parent understanding of the developmental needs of Grade 2 students in the study. These results were beneficial for parents, children, teachers, administrators, and community members in providing the best educational circumstances for children in the district.