Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Roberta Schomburg
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
attendance, behavior change, communication, conferences, elementary school, family-school partnerships, grades K-5, handbook, home-school communication, parent involvement, parent-teacher conferences, parents, phone calls, Project S.P.E.A.K., school events, school functions, stakeholder recognition, student council, students, teachers
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to study the effects of home-school communication on parent involvement by implementing the program Project S.P.E.A.K.: Students, Parents, and Educators Actively Keeping in Touch.
The targeted population consisted of 24 certified general education teachers, 505 students in grades Kindergarten through Grade 5, and 505 parents of students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. The problem to be solved in this applied dissertation was that parents and teachers were not communicating well with each other. At the targeted site, parent involvement and attendance at school functions had dropped drastically over the past 5 years. The data collected from surveys suggested that poor home and school communication had an effect on the number of parents who were involved in the school.
Project S.P.E.A.K. was designed to improve communication between teachers and parents. Project S.P.E.A.K. presented opportunities for all parents to become involved in their children’s learning and school by developing a Project S.P.E.A.K. handbook, organizing a Project S.P.E.A.K. student council, utilizing grade parents more efficiently, recognizing stakeholders for their effort to increase parent involvement, and involving parents, students and teachers in the efforts to increase parent involvement.
An analysis of the data revealed that the Project S.P.E.A.K. initiative produced significant change in behaviors at the targeted site. According to the data, the expected outcomes were successfully met: 24 teachers made regular phone calls to inform parents of conferences and upcoming school events, an average of 274 parents attended at least four school functions, and 240 parents attended at least 2 parent-teacher conferences.