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The structure of educational institutions has frequently been at the center of education reforms in recent years. Beginning with the school choice movement, advocates of market-based approaches have infused school systems with policy tools that aim to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of schools while also satisfying consumers (parents and families). School choice, contracting, and performance management are major features of these systems. However, schools in the United States traditionally doubled as neighborhood centers connecting community members to each other. This dissertation explored the relationships between market-based district governance approaches and the levels of engagement and coproduction exhibited by a school community. I used three different datasets to empirically investigate these relationships. The first dataset included national data from the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) to explore principal perceptions of parent behaviors. The second two datasets were created from the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) IRS 990 data to measure levels of coproduction from school-supporting nonprofits. I found that, in general, levels of coproduction are no different between districts with traditional and market-based governance models. However, different types of schools and nonprofits behave differently in these contexts.

This study investigated the effects of online learning on mental health. The focus included six aspects: academic performance, physical activity, social isolation, food insecurity and other stressors, pros and cons, and religion and mental health. Each aspect included advantages and disadvantages that adolescent students experienced. The study included 6th - 12th graders attending a Charter school. The eligibility requirement was that participants participated in online learning during the 2020-2021 school year. Academic performance data was obtained from the school office for students who attended the school during online learning and requested from parents if they attended other schools. Both positive and negative effects of factors were obtained using online questionnaires, which were reviewed during in-person interviews to investigate what challenges students experienced and how online learning effected mental health. Parents of student participants and current teachers were recruited and administered a short questionnaire to obtain their perspectives and observations of the six aspects. Results showed that students adapted and used alternative methods to limit negative issues to mental health. Academic performance was maintained, despite students feeling they struggled. Physical activity and food insecurity and other stressors were not a noticeable issue. Students reported both pros – flexibility, sleeping in, self-paced schedule - and cons – social isolation, technology glitches, lack of teacher connection. Students showed resiliency and self-initiative attitudes in finding alternative methods to persevere through the cons. Social isolation was reported as the most negative. Religion and mental health was not a factor in negative/positive effects.

Parent involvement in education is defined as the allocation of familial resources towards activities that promote children’s learning and development and is thought to be an important contributor to the children’s development of school readiness in early childhood (Fantuzzo et al., 2000). Social-emotional competence is a keystone component of school readiness as it supports growth in other domains and predicts future outcomes for children (Domitrovich, et al., 2017). COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders of 2020 disrupted schooling and inherently changed the nature of parent involvement in children’s education. This study examines the impact of time on parent involvement and tests whether caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress predicts changes in parent involvement and children’s social-emotional competence. Data comes from a community sample of caregivers (N = 232) assessed at four timepoints from Fall 2019 to Summer 2021, starting when their children enrolled in prekindergarten. Growth curve modeling was used to identify changes in parent involvement across time and identify effects of caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress. Mediation analysis was used to identify effects of caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress on children’s social-emotional competence through parent involvement behaviors. Results indicate high levels of parent involvement throughout the study, with limited significant changes across time. COVID-19-related distress did not predict changes in parent involvement or children’s social-emotional competence. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand parents’ lived experiences in relation to their motivational beliefs for involvement in their children’s education in a K-5 foreign language immersion program. The central research question guiding this study was: What are the lived experiences of parents whose children have attended at least 2 years of a K-5 foreign language immersion program regarding their motivational beliefs towards involvement in their children’s education? Three sub-questions addressing the specific aspects of motivational beliefs were used to further examine parent involvement. The theory that guided this study was the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model of the parent involvement process, as it addressed how parental role construction, sense of efficacy, and other factors converge to influence parents’ motivational beliefs and decisions to become involved in their child’s education. There were 25 participants in the study that were selected using a recruitment survey. Data collection methods included in-depth one-on-one interviews, an open-ended questionnaire, and focus groups. Data analysis included: (1) coding all data using a provisional list of codes, adding codes as needed; (2) combining like codes to create themes; (3) creating a composite for each participants’ experience; (4) creating a composite structural description of the group’s experience; and (5) synthesizing all participants experiences in to one clear statement. Findings revealed parents were involved in a variety of ways to understand the immersion program and support their child. Participants felt their role was to support their student and most had high self-efficacy in their ability to do so. Parents were influenced by invitations to be involved as well as their own life factors of time, knowledge, and access to resources.

This study reviews the available literature on parents’ involvement in organized youth sport as well as coaches’ and athletes’ perspectives of parents’ involvement in youth sport. The Youth Sport Parent Involvement Survey (YSPIS) was developed and administered to assess parents’ motives for and perceptions of their involvement in their child’s primary youth sport. Participants included 298 parents of youth involved in sport in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results indicate that the scores on the seven YSPIS subscales were reliable (all alpha estimates were > .60), and exploratory factor analysis revealed a one factor model for each of the seven subscales. Findings indicate that athlete parents are involved in their child’s primary youth sport in various ways (i.e., physical, logistical, emotional, financial, coach conferencing, home-based, pressure), and engage in their child’s sport for a multitude of reasons (e.g., benefits to child, role construction, self-efficacy, life context). Comparisons of youth sport parent involvement scores based on parent gender revealed meaningful differences on only two involvement behaviors, physical presence and coaching, and one motivator, perceived athletic knowledge and skills, with fathers reporting higher mean scores across all three.

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This quantitative, quasi-experimental static group comparison study aimed to determine parents' perspectives on their school involvement and the effects of student influence on parent attendance at school events when communication methods included students and parents. Communication about ways parents can become involved with their student's school is vital in improving the connection between parental involvement and student achievement. Sample participants included the parents of 381 elementary school students (Kindergarten-Fifth Grades) of one public charter school. The parent involvement events consisted of two asynchronous parent involvement videos, one for reading and one for math, delivered through the Family Involvement Questionnaire emailed to parents from the school. Questionnaire data about parents' perceived school involvement was collected via Google Forms, downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet, then uploaded to SPSS for data analysis through two independent samples t-tests and two Chi-squared tests. The findings suggest that when students are included in the communication about parent events, students' "pester power" positively influences parent attendance. Therefore, school personnel can improve parent attendance at parent involvement events by including students in the marketing-motivated communication about the events. The researcher recommends strengthening this study's findings by replicating the study, post-pandemic, in different settings such as in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous; rural, suburban, and urban; in districts with varying socioeconomic statuses and diverse enrollments; and in varying school district types, which provides a larger sample size.

This qualitative study illuminates the counter-narratives of four Black Family Engagement Coordinators (FECs) with an explicit commitment to working with Black Families in K-12 public school spaces. This study was designed to explore how Black FECs describe and negotiate their role as a cultural broker and shed light on the approaches that they have utilized to support Black families in the public school system.This study aims to explore the range of experiences FECs have had in attempting to work in solidarity with Black families and public school systems. I will utilize Black feminist theory, intersectionality, kinship, and othermothering as a lens to explore the contextual, historical, and psychological factors that may inform the way that Black families advocate on behalf of their child’s education and the ways in which FECs support Black families. This study will employ a qualitative methodology through the use of community-engaged research (CER) and the formation of an Affinity Learning Space (ALS) to surface counter-narratives of FECs. The ALS was intentionally and strategically formed to provide a collaborative learning and healing space for Black FECs, working in a formal family engagement role, who are charged with engaging and supporting families in public schools. This study concludes with a discussion and analysis of the Affinity Learning Space, limitations, and recommendations for how to support cultural brokers committed to this labor of love.

The publication of the Family Engagement Core Competencies by the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement in 2022 provided a body of knowledge of the work of educators engaging with families, a domain not well-understood previously. Situated in the pandemic recovery phase in U.S. education, this dissertation study aimed to explore the nature of efficacy beliefs of educators in family engagement, a latent construct grounded in social cognitive theory. To achieve this aim, a survey measure was developed, and an interpretation and use argument (IUA) anchored the process of the validation of the interpretation and use of its scores. The study was conducted in five phases. In the first phase, the Family Engagement Efficacy Beliefs of Educators (FEEB-E) survey was drafted based on a review of literature, existing instruments, and subject-matter expert and user feedback. In the second phase, the FEEB-E was piloted with a national sample of educators, and exploratory factor, parallel, and reliability analyses were conducted. In the third phase, the FEEB-E was revised based on findings from the pilot study. In the fourth phase, the FEEB-E was administered to a sample of teachers in two Ohio urban school districts, and confirmatory factor, correlation, and reliability analyses were conducted. In the fifth phase, the IUA was constructed, and the appropriateness of the interpretation and use of the scores from the FEEB-E was determined.The study found that survey items were valid for interpretation as representative of their target domain of self-efficacy beliefs for family engagement. There were no extraneous sources of variability in wording of items and directions, order of items, or the scoring scale. The survey items measured the intended population by reflecting a range of efficacy beliefs around multiple dimensions of family engagement and did so reliably (α = .917). Further, the FEEB-E was found to be valid for use as a research instrument. Its benefits outweigh the potential consequences of its use, it is cost effective, and it improves upon other available surveys for measuring efficacy beliefs for family engagement.Finally, in addition to the main study, it was examined how family engagement efficacy beliefs of educators (as measured by the FEEB-E) relate to other constructs, such as educators’ trust in families and general teaching efficacy beliefs. Family engagement efficacy beliefs were significantly positively correlated with general teaching efficacy beliefs (ρ = .576, p < .001), indicating both that the constructs are related as expected and also that they are two distinct constructs. Second, family engagement efficacy beliefs were significantly positively correlated with teachers’ trust in families (ρ = .322, p < .001), again indicating the constructs are related yet distinct.

The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of Spanish-speaking parents who have children enrolled in an early college high school (ECHS). The role parents play in high school students’ lives is unique, and how they are involved from the point of their child’s initial enrollment throughout their high school matriculation is implicit in the purpose of the study. A corresponding benefit of this study was parents’ comparison of the ECHS as an educational option to the local comprehensive high school program, providing direction for program modifications based on parents’ perspectives. The study followed a qualitative research design with a focus group methodology. Participants were 17 Spanish-speaking parents divided into three focus groups. The setting was an ECHS in a large school district in southeast Texas. The study was guided by two research questions: 1. What are the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking parents with children enrolled in an ECHS? 2. What are the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking parents with respect to the comprehensive high school model? The study followed Bolman and Deal’s four-frame theoretical framework, which provided a salient way to consider the extant literature alongside the research questions. The framework also provided a lens to inform educational leadership practice and improve academic outcomes for students from underserved populations. Four themes emerged: academic programming, school culture and environment, family and peer influences, and barriers to quality education.

The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of Spanish-speaking parents who have children enrolled in an early college high school (ECHS). The role parents play in high school students’ lives is unique, and how they are involved from the point of their child’s initial enrollment throughout their high school matriculation is implicit in the purpose of the study. A corresponding benefit of this study was parents’ comparison of the ECHS as an educational option to the local comprehensive high school program, providing direction for program modifications based on parents’ perspectives. The study followed a qualitative research design with a focus group methodology. Participants were 17 Spanish-speaking parents divided into three focus groups. The setting was an ECHS in a large school district in southeast Texas. The study was guided by two research questions: 1. What are the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking parents with children enrolled in an ECHS? 2. What are the perceptions and experiences of Spanish-speaking parents with respect to the comprehensive high school model? The study followed Bolman and Deal’s four-frame theoretical framework, which provided a salient way to consider the extant literature alongside the research questions. The framework also provided a lens to inform educational leadership practice and improve academic outcomes for students from underserved populations. Four themes emerged: academic programming, school culture and environment, family and peer influences, and barriers to quality education.

The number of English Language Learner (ELL) students in U.S. public schools are increasing yearly. More than 75% of ELL student's home language is Spanish. Their academic performance and graduation rates are lower than their non-ELL peers. Parent involvement contributes to student success in school, and urban leaders must examine how they involve ELL students and parents in school. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived strategies urban high school teachers use to involve ELL parents and to identify whether perceived barriers exist. School leaders can benefit from this qualitative study to address the achievement gap between ELL and non-ELL students. Five ESL teachers, six content teachers, and three Graduation Coaches participated in three focus group interviews. Seven findings arose from the interviews. A few findings include 71% (10 out of 14) of participants perceived that all educators in the building are responsible for ELL students, 93% (13 out of 14) of participants perceived there are practices and policies established to aid teachers with communicating and involving ELL parents, and 80% percent (4 out of 5) of ESL teachers interviewed believed parents are more trusting of the school when schools partner with other community agencies to host events. Teachers perceived barriers exist that inhibit them from involving and communicating with parents. Ninety-three percent (13 out of 14) of participants noted time as a barrier. Almost 43% (6 out of 14) participants noted parents being unaware of their rights as a barrier.

This study used a design-based methodology to investigate the impact of parents' and teachers' collaborative efforts in supporting preschool children's early writing. The sample included the lead teachers of the 3K and 4K classrooms at a local child development center. Six parent-child dyads from the 3K classroom and five parent-child dyads from the 4K classroom were selected using a convenience sampling technique. Data on children’s literacy skills and parents' and teachers’ involvement were collected using quantitative and qualitative measures. Children's literacy skills were measured in four areas: concepts about print, letter identification, letter writing, and name writing using Clay's Observational Survey instrument. Children were expected to write daily using the Teacher Child Parent (T.C.P) Writing Collaborative Notebook with the support of their parents. Teachers’ involvement in children’s early writing skills was collected through classroom observation, pre- and post-semi-structured interviews, and feedback in the notebook. Parents’ involvement in children’s early writing skills was collected through pre- and post-semi-structured interviews and comments in the writing notebook. Findings revealed that children's emergent literacy skills were significantly improved and were connected to the frequency of the use of the notebook and the strategies used by parents. Parents employed different strategies to support their children's writing. Interestingly, the type of feedback teachers provided in the T.C.P Writing Collaborative Notebook and the frequency and nature of this feedback influenced parents' motivation to work with their children and send the notebooks back to school daily. Therefore, this study demonstrated that effective parent-teacher collaboration significantly improves preschool children's early writing and other related skills. It also makes important contributions to existing research because no studies known to the researcher have examined how parents and teachers can collaborate to support preschool children over a period using an iterative, design-based method that integrated research-based strategies.

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe lived experiences of parents of middle school students who are engaged in their children's educational achievement as stakeholders within the overlapping spheres of influence. Eighteen participants were selected from three middle schools in a school district in central Delaware. The central research question is: What lived experiences motivate parents of middle school students to engage in their children's educational achievement as stakeholders within the overlapping spheres of influence? Research sub-questions deal directly with the participants' understanding of the theory guiding this study, Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence, as it explains the necessity for all stakeholders to synergize as partners for student development. This study employed a transcendental phenomenological design as this design aims to describe the participants' lived experiences. Data were collected via questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups and were analyzed and coded for themes in Atlas.ti. Data analysis showed that parents experience communication and support as the cornerstones of how stakeholders function within the overlapping spheres of influence.

Navigation of the state and federal child welfare and special education systems in the U.S. presents significant challenges for caregivers, particularly those of children with disabilities. This dissertation explores the experiences of caregivers who were involved in these two systems, discussing the challenges they faced and analyzing the strategies and resources they utilized for effective navigation. The paper’s study included semi-structured interviews, allowing for an in-depth exploration of caregiver perspectives and experiences: emotional challenges such as denial, anger, depression, isolation, stress, and eventual acceptance were prevalent among caregivers, and the lack of support from these two systems’ service providers created multiple barriers for caregivers. Yet, finding reveal that caregivers utilized their skills, expertise, and existing relationships to effectively navigate the complexities of the two systems, illustrating that caregivers possess strong aspirations for their children's futures and demonstrate determination in advocating for their needs within the systems.

High school students with disabilities experience poor post-secondary outcomes in college, employment, and independent living as compared to their typically developing peers. Parents’ involvement in their child’s learning is a significant predictor of both academic achievement and post-secondary success for all students, including students with disabilities. However, little research has examined the motivational factors associated with parent involvement in special education. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which certain factors motivate involvement for high school youth with disabilities. Parent involvement includes a broad range of activities intended to support children’s learning. This study examined two important forms of parent involvement for secondary special education students: home involvement and school involvement. The selection of factors of motivation included in this study is guided by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (HDS) model, which provides one of the most comprehensive and empirically tested frameworks for understanding the psychological and contextual reasons parents become involved in their children’s learning. Thus far, there are no studies to date that have tested the predictive utility of the HDS model with parents of high school youth with disabilities. Given the distinct needs of parents of children with disabilities, this study incorporated the Motivations for Parent Involvement (MPI; Hirano et al., 2018) scale, which has revised and adapted scales from the HDS model to be applicable to the unique context of parents of youth with disabilities. Using a sample of 94 parents and caregivers, regression analysis was used to investigate the relationships between role construction, child invitations, teacher invitations, skills and knowledge, and time and energy in predicting the involvement behaviors of parents of youth with disabilities in school and home. Results suggested that the HDS model was more effective in predicting parents’ participation in school compared to their involvement at home. Furthermore, the findings suggest that child invitations for involvement are particularly important in promoting parents’ involvement in the schools, whereas enhancing parenting role construction may be crucial for supporting their engagement at home. The implications of these findings, as well as their limitations and future directions, are discussed.

Cambodia is a predominantly rural nation with a heavy dependence on agriculture, particularly smallholder rice farming systems. While several sustainable agricultural technologies have been successfully piloted on research stations or with small numbers of early adopters, questions remain on how to extend these technologies to large numbers of resource-poor smallholders. The Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies Project (S3-Cambodia) seeks to examine pathways for scaling sustainable intensification (SI) technologies to smallholder farmers. One of the identified pathways to scaling SI is through the education system. Cambodian youth serve as an entry point to extend target technologies to farm families through experiential learning opportunities in schools by establishing “green labs,” featuring school gardens. This research study seeks to support the desired outcomes of the S3-Cambodia project by assessing Cambodian parental involvement their children’s lives and school activities. While students can serve as agricultural education sources for their homes and communities, there is a need to determine if school-child-parent relationships in Cambodia are strong enough to facilitate this knowledge transfer. Primary data was collected from 178 parents whose children attend three separate high schools in three districts of Cambodia through one-on-one orally conducted surveys. These were supplemented by key informant interviews of selected parents, teachers, and principals at each of the high schools. Results indicate that parents have a strong interest in school garden implementation and activities at their children’s school, with 84% parents interested in visiting a school garden. Additionally, the majority believe that they can learn from their children (65%) and actively discuss with their children about what they are learning at school (72%), indicating a high likelihood of knowledge transfer from a school garden. Yet, parents’ involvement in their children’s schools and lives varies between regions, with the rurality of the households influencing family social ties and parents’ proximity to the school. Overall, the presence of and differences between parent-child-school relationships in various regions of Cambodia will inform how S3-Cambodia implements and monitors green labs. As such, findings are significant to the objectives of S3-Cambodia and the general body of knowledge on scaling through education.

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine parents’ experiences of the support they receive from their children’s teachers when those children have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and attend public-school preschools. For this study, described support is defined as emotional, instrumental, or informational assistance, along with appraisal received from others during times of need. The theoretical framework for this study is Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model of parental involvement and Epstein’s parent involvement model, which identifies six types of family involvement. These theories fall under Bronfenbrenner’s overarching ecological systems theory. The study includes 10 participants chosen through purposeful sampling. Participants are parents living in the Southeast United States whose children have an IEP and attend a public-school preschool. The study answers the central research question: How do parents whose children have an IEP and attend public-school preschool describe the support provided by their children’s teachers? The study utilizes interviews, focus groups, and a review of documents to collect data. Interviews were transcribed and examined for emerging themes. Data analysis was conducted using Moustakas' transcendental phenomenology and analysis procedures. Results of the study provide information on the lack of support, communication, trust, and advocacy that parents of public-school preschoolers whose children have an IEP receive from their child’s teachers during the IEP process.

INTRODUCCIÓN. Tradición y democracia confluyen en el derecho a la educación: los padres son los primeros responsables de la educación de sus hijos y el Estado vela para que todos los ciudadanos accedan a la educación escolar. La participación de las familias en la escuela es una vía para coordinar funciones, responsabilidades y libertades de los agentes educativos. El objetivo de este estudio es comprender cómo es la participación familiar en la formación integral que la educación escolar promueve. Esta formación impulsa el desarrollo de la personalidad o del carácter. MÉTODO. Procedemos a un análisis de contenido y a una reflexión teórica y descriptiva de las investigaciones sobre participación familiar en la educación escolar española de estos cinco últimos años. La bibliografía seleccionada procede de los hallazgos en las bases de datos Scopus y Dialnet Plus. RESULTADOS. El marco legal vigente en España no permite que las familias participen en la toma de decisiones sobre cómo llevar a cabo la formación integral en los centros educativos; las familias se implican más en la educación escolar cuando perciben que pueden compartir con la escuela la tarea de la educación de sus hijos. DISCUSIÓN. La falta de intervención de las familias en el proceso de elaboración del proyecto educativo de centro, en lo que se refiere a la formación integral, puede ser un obstáculo para su implicación en la educación escolar; sin embargo, garantizar en todos los centros la oportunidad de que los padres asuman activamente el contenido de la educación en valores de sus hijos, podría ser el modo de aumentar la participación de más familias. La libre elección de centro no debería ser el único modo para que los padres elijan fines y contenidos axiológicos según sus convicciones y en interés de sus hijos.

The critical consciousness framework informs us that for parents and teachers of Black youth to be best positioned to disrupt systemic racism in education they must both critically reflect on the systems that oppress Black youth and become motivated to challenge those systems. Still, little empirical research exists investigating the critical reflection-action process with parents and teachers. The purposes of this dissertation were to extend existing research on critical consciousness with parents and teachers specifically, investigate how engaging in critical and acritical reflection might shape parents’ and teachers’ parental involvement practices, and examine the moderating role of critical motivation (i.e., school trust and culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy) in these associations. This dissertation consisted of two studies. The data utilized in the first study were a subset of data collected from 179 Black parents of students attending middle schools in the Midwest across three academic school years (from 2015 to 2018). Parents reported their beliefs regarding the causes of the Black-White achievement gap (i.e., critical and acritical reflection), their trust in their children’s schools, and their parental involvement practices in the form of traditional home and school involvement as well as racial and academic socialization. The first study employed a latent profile analysis and found that Black parents’ critical and acritical reflections fit three profiles: ambivalent, race-conscious, and balanced. Membership in these profiles was differentially associated with school involvement and racial and academic socialization practices. School trust was negatively associated with racial barrier socialization and positively associated with support/encouragement socialization. However, school trust did not moderate associations between profile membership and parental involvement. Data utilized in the second study were collected from middle school teachers identifying as African American/Black (n = 2), Hispanic/Latinx (n = 1), Asian American/Asian = (n = 1), and Caucasian/White (n = 49). The teachers taught class sizes ranging from 4 to 40 students (M = 26.60, SD = 7.30) in classrooms with varying percentages of Black students (M = 18.57%, SD = 17.00%). Their teaching took place at one of fifteen different public schools in suburban (n = 34), urban (n = 9), small town/village (n = 8), and rural (n = 2) school districts in the Midwest. Teachers reported on their beliefs regarding the causes of the Black-White achievement gap using a measure similar to that employed for the first study. Teachers also reported their culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and how often they solicited involvement from their students’ parents. Regression analyses revealed that teachers' critical reflection was unrelated to solicited parental involvement and acritical reflection was negatively associated with solicited parental involvement. Acritical reflection and culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy did not moderate relations between critical reflection and solicited parental involvement. The findings suggest that it is important to consider critical and acritical reflections together and that parents’ trust in their children’s schools has implications for their racial and academic socialization. Furthermore, the findings suggest that, for teachers, reflecting acritically on the causes of racial inequity in education has negative implications for parental involvement. Dissertation limitations and future directions are discussed.

Latinx students and their families represent a large and growing population within the U.S. education system and experience significant opportunity gaps, inequities, and barriers in pursuit of academic achievement. Parent engagement (PE) is an important mechanism to increase academic outcomes and close opportunity gaps. However, efforts to accurately measure and understand Latinx PE are inhibited by existing PE measures that are based upon euro-centric middle-class frameworks of PE that do not consider the culturally situated PE behaviors or barriers to engagement unique to Latinx parents. Deficits in PE measurement also exist for the general white population that include a lack of comprehensive and salient domains of PE that are multidimensional and contain behavioral indicators of PE that are important to PE outcomes. The present study contributes to the PE literature for elementary-aged students by developing and validating a culturally sensitive PE questionnaire (CSPEQ) to improve PE measurement in two ways 1) creating a culturally informed PE measure for Latinx families and 2) creating a comprehensive PE measure that captures multi-dimensional PE domains with salient PE behavioral indicators that could also be potentially used for White families. Factor analyses were conducted to assess whether the CSPEQ’s factor structure is consistent with the theorized PE dimensions for both Latinx and White parent groups. An additional objective included the examination of the instrument’s psychometric properties through invariance testing to discern if the constructs of the CSPEQ are being measured in the same way across Latinx and White parents of elementary-aged children. The separate group CFA results indicated that the theoretical PE models may be different for Latinx and White parents, including differences across Latinx and White parent model fit, areas of localized strain, and parent endorsement of item response categories. Overall, the results of the CFA indicated that the theorized model does not support the Latinx parent data after failed efforts to improve model fit for the Latinx group CFA. Research objectives to further conduct multiple groups invariance testing were abandoned to prioritize the exploration and identification of a theoretically interpretable factor structure for Latinx parents through EFA analyses. The results of the EFA produced a reliable and theoretically supported 4-factor PE measure consisting of 35 items that reflect culturally embedded PE behaviors for Latinx parents across home and school settings. These PE domains include Bien Educado, School Engagement, Academic Supports, and Academic Socialization. Key findings of the EFA demonstrate that PE is a multidimensional construct that can consist of culturally informed Latinx PE behaviors and PE behaviors that are salient indicators of positive student outcomes. The CSPEQ affirmed the culturally centered PE behaviors of Latinx parents supported by the research literature and illuminated how those PE behaviors are related to various dimensions of PE across home and school. Taken together, the development and validation of the CSPEQ provide significant steps to conceptualizing and measuring PE for Latinx families in culturally responsive ways that can more accurately capture Latinx PE.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) requires parents to be involved in all parts of the education decision-making process, including the IEP meeting. Although there is a vast body of research about parents of students receiving special education services and their perspectives of the IEP meeting, little is known about parents’ perspectives of the IEP meeting while students are at a nonpublic school. Understanding the perspectives of parents whose students attend nonpublic schools will allow for more collaboration and more effective IEP for their students attending nonpublic schools. The current study explored parent perspectives of involvement and parent–educator relationships during IEP meetings held at nonpublic schools. A convergent mixed method design combined survey and interview results to build a reliable understanding of parent perspectives at IEP meetings in this environment. A self-administered survey was created and pilot-tested for the study. Forty-one guardians of students who attended a nonpublic school in Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles Counties volunteered to complete the survey after being contacted through their nonpublic student school, a school district representative, or a parent Facebook group post. A semistructured interview protocol was developed based on the survey and conducted with eight guardians who completed the survey and volunteered to participate in an interview. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey data to understand participant perspectives of involvement and parent–educator relationships. Structural, descriptive, and value coding was used to analyze interview data. Between-group vii analysis of variance was used to compare perspectives across demographic groups (e.g., parent race and ethnicity, parent education level, student number of years receiving special education services). Survey and interview results identified high positive ratings for involvement and parent–educator relationships. The participants’ race had a significant impact on parent perspectives of communication during IEP meetings at nonpublic schools; however, due to small group sizes, further research should be conducted to verify the results. No other demographic characteristics analyzed had a significant impact on involvement, communication, or parent– educator relationships.

The purpose of this single instrumental case study was to understand the decision-making practices of parents and elementary school leaders that lead to their beliefs and courses of action relating to participation in a family–school partnership program (FSPP). Two theories guided this investigation. Simon’s organizational decision-making theory demonstrated how institutions can follow a process for effective decision-making while also recognizing human limitations of the task. Epstein’s theory of overlapping spheres of influence contended that when schools, families, and communities work towards a common goal, student development and achievement is attainable at the highest level. The central research question asked, “How do the beliefs, experiences, assumptions, or goals of parents and elementary school leaders influence decisions regarding participation in an FSPP at one elementary school?” Data were collected from individual interviews of parents and school leaders, a focus group involving school leaders, a focus group involving parents, and document analysis in the form of participant letters. The data from this investigation were analyzed using Stake’s case study worksheets and steps for case study methodology: description, categorical aggregation, establishing patterns, and naturalistic generalization. The results of this study indicated that parents’ and elementary school leaders’ beliefs that lead to decisions to participate in FSPPs are school culture, inclusive partnership practices, commitments and responsibilities, learning environment, and approach to school leadership.

Studies have demonstrated parent involvement as an important predictor of academic achievement, social emotional skill development, and overall psychological adjustment. Much of the previous work on parent involvement has focused on mother involvement, leaving the role of father involvement in adolescents’ adjustment understudied. Further, this study was conducted during the COVID-19 global pandemic, which makes it unique in that some parents and adolescents were likely spending a significant amount of time with one another during the stay-at-home orders. Adolescents’ perspectives are important as they are a critical part of the family and at a critical transitional stage in which they are becoming independent and making decisions about their future. The goal of this study was to identify whether there are differences in the rates of involvement among mothers and fathers, if involvement is associated with adolescents’ school and wellbeing outcomes, and whether mother vs. father involvement has differential implications for adolescents’ outcomes. The second goal of the study was to determine if contextual factors (e.g., parent relationship quality, teacher-adolescent relationships, community belonging, social support) moderate the associations between parent involvement and adolescent adjustment. Adolescents (N = 116: mean age = 13.2) reported on their perceived rates of mother and father involvement, and their academic and socioemotional adjustment. Findings demonstrated significant differences in the levels of mother and father involvement, such that mothers were found to have higher rates of involvement than fathers. Although there were differences in the rates of parent involvement among mothers and fathers, the implications of their involvement were similar for adolescents’ outcomes. Parent-adolescent relationship quality significantly moderated the association between parenting involvement, both mother and father involvement, and adolescents’ socioemotional skills. In a similar vein, community belonging was found to moderate the associations between parent involvement and adolescent academic achievement (e.g., grades). Herein, while parent involvement generally plays a positive role in adolescent outcomes, other contexts, and the social capital gained within them, can reinforce, these contributions to adolescents’ academic and socioemotional adjustment.

Parent involvement is crucial for student success in the K-12 school environment. Polices are in place to promote and encourage minority parent involvement in schools. It is still unclear how to increase minority parental involvement at the intermediate school level. The goal of this study is to determine the preferred involvement type of minority parents in a New Jersey suburban intermediate school. The study is quantitative in nature and explores the six parent involvement types according to Joyce Epstein (2001). The analysis of the data will determine if there is a preferred involvement type among the minority participants. This study concluded that minority parents prefer the parent involvement type “learning at home”. The parent involvement type “parenting” was the second preferred type.

Parent involvement can have many benefits for youth and familial relationships. This descriptive, cross-sectional survey research described parent involvement in their child’s 4-H market livestock project. The sample for the study consisted of parents who had a child enrolled in a 4-H market livestock project during 2019 in the state of Ohio. Using an adapted framework, several constructs were used to assess parent involvement. These constructs included Home Activities, 4-H Club Activities, Parental Self-Efficacy, Parental Role Construction, Invitations from the Child, 4-H Advisor and 4-H Club, Skills and Knowledge and Time and Energy. A regression analysis was utilized to predict any significant influences on their participation. This research aimed to contribute to the dearth of literature examining parent involvement in 4-H projects and revealed contextual factors that influence their engagement. Findings from the study indicated that invitations from children had the biggest influence on parent involvement in home activities while both invitations from the 4-H advisor and children were significant predictors of parent involvement in 4-H club activities. Future recommendations for practice include a change in 4-H club culture to actively include parents and for Extension personnel to create and circulate materials that promote parent involvement. Recommendations for future research include a qualitative or mixed methods study to explore the motivations for parental involvement more in-depth as well as include the perspectives of both child and advisors.

The United States Federal Government recognized the importance of parent involvement in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Parent involvement has been associated with lower grade retention rates (student repeating a grade level), higher graduation rates, and higher student achievement rates. Reported obstacles to parent involvement include lack of child development knowledge and time constraints. In early childhood, a major focus has been placed on early literacy skills. However, studies that involve early numeracy skills especially in the home environment are lacking. Therefore, this study attempted to fill that void. An instrumental exploratory case study research design was utilized in which information was gathered on parents’ numeracy skill knowledge, numeracy perceptions, numeracy home activities and perceptions on the implementation of the numeracy micro videos as a parent involvement tool. A total of 41 preschool parents participated in the study who were randomly assigned to either a video user or nonuser group. Beginning in January 2019, the user group received a weekly micro video YouTube link for the parent to watch. A total of 6 videos were provided on early numeracy skills and support practices. Data analysis suggested the videos impacted preschool skill knowledge. For the user group, parental confidence grew as well as the need for additional support. In addition, an increase in home activities was observed. According to the participants, the physical activity micro videos seemed to be enjoyed more than the measurement cooking videos. From this study, it is believed that micro videos could provide another parent involvement outlet that encourages parent participation in their child’s learning process. Information from this study can help develop more micro videos that address parent’s need and concerns regarding early numeracy development.

Students with disabilities tend to experience more challenges and have lower homework completion as compared to non-disabled peers (Epstein et al., 1993). Evidence suggests that parental involvement in homework can significantly improve children with disabilities’ homework completion and achievement (Zhang, Hsu, Kwok, Benz, & Bowman-Parrot, 2001). However, there have been relatively few studies that have examined the factors that are associated with higher levels of homework involvement for parents of children with disabilities (Frew, Zhou, Duran, Kwok, & Benz, 2013). The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation on the factors associated with homework involvement of parents of children with disabilities. To determine these factors, data were analyzed from a sample of 11,941 parents from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2016 National Household Education Surveys Program. Using a hierarchical regression analysis, this study examined the relationship of family characteristics, school outreach efforts, parent satisfaction, and parent beliefs in relation to homework involvement. Generally, parents of children with disabilities are significantly less satisfied with their child’s school and had lower expectations for their child’s postsecondary outcomes as compared to parents of children without disabilities. Preliminary results indicated that a child’s disability status impacted the association between parents’ satisfaction with their child’s IEP services with homework involvement, as well as expectations with homework involvement.

Throughout the years, a concern plaguing the education world is parent involvement. Ongoing research indicates students whose parents and family members are involved tend to experience greater academic achievement and decreased behavior issues (McNeal, 2015). With regard to parent involvement, immigrant parent involvement takes this concern to a new level with regard to the growing racial and ethnic diversity in education (Outley & Skuza, 2019). Guided by Epstein’s six types of involvement and Yosso’s community cultural wealth, this study explores one urban middle school’s outreach efforts to involve immigrant parents. In this qualitative case study, one middle schools’ stakeholders-the principal, the Youth Services Center Coordinator, three teachers, and selected immigrant parents-participated by sharing personal perceptions of their schools’ outreach efforts to involve immigrant parents. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to collect data from the participants. Findings suggest interactions between the home and school, student sense of belonging, school personnel motivation, and parent efficacy are important factors to increasing immigrant parent involvement.

Abstract: Children's academic achievement matters and can have a long-term impact throughout their life. Parents play an important role in the process of children's learning and development. Building on previous research concerning parental involvement, and focusing on children's mathematics achievement specifically, the present study aimed to examine the factor structure of a parent survey to explore possible ways of parents' involvement in their children's education. The second objective of the present study was to investigate the relations among the multiple dimensions of parental involvement and answer the question of how these aspects were related to children's mathematics achievement. The current study used secondary data from a previous survey-design research project. A convenient sample was recruited from an elementary school, including data from 139 parents and 121 children. Principal Component Analysis was conducted with direct oblimin method of rotation resulted in seven components. Five components were retained in the following Path Analysis. Results indicated that parental self-efficacy was positively predicted by parents' attitude about the school and teachers, through the mediator of parents’ perceptions about the teacher's contact with them. Moreover, parental self-efficacy was a positive predictor of their specific helping behaviors with children's math and science at home, parents' role construction beliefs, and children's math achievement. However, parents' assistance with science and math was negatively associated with children's math achievement. Future studies can further explore the underlying mechanisms of parents' homework assistance behaviors. Practically, these results could inform intervention programs at school to promote open and positive collaborations between school teachers and parents as a way to communicate strategic participation in children's education, boost parental self-efficacy, and enhance students' mathematics achievement.

This study examined perceptions of effective parent involvement for military parents with children in elementary school. Schools can cater to the needs of military parents by offering activities that parents prefer when consideration is given to rank and the grade level of the child. The population included soldiers stationed at an Army post in the southeastern part the United States. The target population was military parents with children in kindergarten through fifth grade. The sample population included the military parents with children enrolled in elementary schools near the Army installation. A causal-comparative research design was used to compare mean scores of parents’ perception of effective parent involvement. A modified version of the Effective Parent Involvement: Parent and Teacher Perceptions Survey evaluated the perceptions of effective parent involvement based on five dimensions. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine the difference in perception means of officers and enlisted soldiers who have students in a military-affiliated elementary school and perception mean scores according to grade level. Extreme outliers were checked using box plots. Scatterplots were used to check for linear relationships between dimensions. The multivariate homogeneity of covariance test was Box’s M. Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances was used. Cronbach’s alpha was conducted for reliability of the instrument’s dimensions. The findings of this study revealed the lack of parent involvement is not due to military rank or the grade level of the child.

Research has shown that the successful transition plans can provide students who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with increased employment opportunities, independent living options, and most importantly a positive quality of life. Individuals diagnosed with ASD have a variety of symptoms and characteristics that range from moderate to severe. Teachers and parents must work together to provide the child or adult with an education that encompasses their strengths and areas improvement, to allow for independence and future success. The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of the components in the transition process as well as strategies that promote each component for a successful transition for students who are diagnosed with ASD.

Teenagers with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with developing and maintaining adaptive skills, specifically daily living skills (DLS). The development of DLS, and the relationship between DLS and other factors, has produced contradictory findings. The aim of this study was to examine the differences of DLS between typically developing (TD) and ASD teens, and the relationship between DLS and parent involvement and parent confidence. We also used qualitative interviews to explore parents’ descriptions of their attempts to help their teens develop DLS through qualitative interviews. A total of 54 parent-teen dyads (ASD N = 40; TD N =14) matched on age and IQ completed the VABS-3 and PRQ, which examined adaptive behavior skills and parent practices. The ASD group had significantly lower DLS scores than the TD group, as expected. There were no significant differences between parents’ scores on parenting involvement and confidence, and the standard scores of both groups were in the average range. There were few significant relationships between DLS scores and parent practices scores in either group, though the TD demonstrated a significant relationship between DLS and parent involvement, and this correlation was significantly higher than that found in the ASD group. Regression analyses found parent confidence and parent involvement scores to predict DLS in the ASD group, with confidence being the most significant factor. Based on qualitative interviews, parents primarily use verbal prompting to promote DLS in their teens. Future research should focus on replicating these findings with larger sample sizes, and examining the role of these factors in DLS intervention.

Researchers have acknowledged that parents play a pivotal role in their children’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatment (Burrell & Borrego, 2012). Unfortunately, many measures of parent involvement for this population use fewer than 10 items and focus only on parents’ reinforcement of therapy skills at home, planning with clinicians, and/or knowledge about treatments (Burrell & Borrego, 2012; Solish & Perry, 2008). A measure of parent involvement that includes all the theorized ways parents support their children’s ASD treatment is necessary for researchers to investigate how parent involvement is related to ASD treatment outcomes. In this study, the validity and reliability of the scores of a new measure for parents’ involvement in their children’s ASD treatment, the Parent Involvement Survey for Autism Treatment-Version 2 (PISAT-2), were investigated using item response theory. Results indicated that PISAT-2 scores had good internal consistency and differentiated well among four of the five proposed levels of parent involvement. Scores from the PISAT-2 were found to be positively correlated with parent self-efficacy (r = 0.38), but not correlated with parent stress. Scores from the PISAT-2 were negatively related to parent education level and annual income, but not related to gender, ethnicity, number of caregivers in the home, reported SES, or work hours per week. The difficulty levels of the PISAT-2 items were similar for participants irrespective of gender, ethnicity, SES, annual income, or work hours per week. However, one item was found to be more difficult for participants with some high school as their highest level of education completed. Participant feedback indicated that the PISAT-2 covered the majority of the ways in which parents are involved in their children’s treatment with some suggestions for improvement.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain if parents’ reported participation in specific math intervention strategies increased their abilities to help their children with math. The five math intervention strategies were Everyday Math Online Tools and Games, Star Math Reports/Home Connect from Renaissance Learning, HomeworkNOW, Study Island, and Family Math Nights. This research also served to examine if there was an association between parents’ participation in the five math intervention strategies and parents’ reported demographics. Parents of students in Grades 1 through 5 in a large, urban rim school district were surveyed. Survey respondents encompassed 694 parents. Descriptive statistics were conducted. The math intervention strategy that had the most parent participation was Study Island. Everyday Math Online Tools and Games and Star Math Reports/Home Connect from Renaissance Learning were identified as the most helpful. Chi-square analyses were performed to determine if there was an association between whether or not parents participated in each program and the school and grade of the child as well as the parent’s gender, race or ethnicity, and marital status. There was a statistically significant association revealed between whether or not parents participated in each of the five math programs and the school the child attends. A statistically significant association was shown between whether or not parents participated in each of the five math programs and the parent’s race–ethnicity. Study Island, which had the most parent participation, had the most significant associations.

Research has shown that parent-school involvement is an important contributor to student academic success and achievement. This involvement can be even more crucial for students whose families are living in poverty, as it can act as a protective factor for them. Although the importance of parental involvement has been recognized in regard to achievement, there is currently a lack of literature that uses both parent and teacher perspectives of parental involvement. There is also a lack of literature to determine if the relationship between parent- involvement and achievement is moderated by poverty level. This study’s research questions include: (1) Is there a relationship between parent-perceived parental involvement and achievement? (2) Is there a relationship between teacher-perceived parental involvement and achievement? (3) To what degree do both parent-perceived parental involvement and teacher- perceived parental involvement predict achievement, and are these relationships moderated by poverty level? Data for this study were gathered through the Butler County Success Program, which provides services to economically disadvantaged students attending 36 schools in a Midwestern state. Collected data included levels of parent-perceived parental involvement, levels of teacher-perceived parental involvement, poverty level, and student achievement scores in mathematics. This study used parental-involvement indicators that assessed both the parent’s and teacher’s level of communication with each other. Analyses revealed a positive and significant correlation between both parent-perceived and teacher-perceived parental involvement and student mathematics achievement scores. Analyses also revealed that both parent- and teacher- perceived parental involvement significantly predict math achievement scores, and that relationship is not moderated by the students’ level of poverty. This suggests that parent- and teacher-perceived parental involvement and student poverty level can predict student mathematics achievement scores, but the relationship between parent involvement and achievement scores does not differ as a result of poverty level.

Despite an increasing understanding of the importance of both parent-involvement and aggression among women, there appears to be little understanding of how these two areas influence each other; specifically, the lack of literature examining the extent to which female guardians experienced aggression from other female guardians and the effect it had on their involvement in their children’s schools. In an effort to investigate the extent to which aggression was prevalent among female guardians, the factors that influenced the aggression, and the effects of that aggression on women’s involvement in their children’s education, a convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to study female guardians living in the United States with children currently in grades K-12. The 225 survey participants and nine interviewees were recruited through snowball sampling. Closed-ended questions were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive, linear, and logistic regression analysis; open-ended questions were analyzed using in-vivo, categorical, and thematic coding. Findings from the quantitative analysis revealed that most respondents experienced aggression from other female guardians at their children’s schools, and that being ignored, excluded and gossiped about were the most reported aggressive acts. Interestingly, variation in aggression was not associated with the demographics of the aggressor, but instead with participant demographics; specifically, Ph.D./Ed.D., Asian, politically extremely liberal and moderate. Post-aggression, 35% of women decreased their volunteer time, 8% increased it, and 57% volunteered “about the same.” Though most women reported “talking to” someone, these strategies were among the least effective. Qualitative analysis revealed that women believed the differences in demographic and personality traits—between themselves and the aggressor—accounted for the aggression they experienced. Specifically, women believed that differences in income, race and employment most influenced aggressive experiences. School structures, cultures and individuals consistently privileged one type of parent and alienated others. Participants believed their character and knowledge were most helpful in navigating aggressive interactions with other women. Results from this study provide insight into how aggression may affect women volunteering in their children’s schools. Understanding how women experience and navigate through this could help families, practitioners, and policy makers better support parental involvement in their children’s schools.

Despite the importance of positive teacher-child relationships and supportive home environments to children’s academic achievement, research is limited in notable ways. First, studies often utilize only teachers’ perceptions about the relationships they have with children limiting understanding of bidirectional nature of these connections. Second, little is known about how teacher-child relationships and parental support additively influence children’s academic achievement. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to explore associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s academic achievement among preschool-aged children. Both teachers’ and children’s perceptions about teacher-child relationships were examined, and differences were discussed. Additionally, to investigate how parental support and teacher-child relationships are associated with children’s academic outcomes, home learning environment (i.e., the frequency of school-related activities at home) was examined. Participants for this study included 179 preschool aged children, their parents, and teachers (N = 28). Children’s language, literacy, and mathematics skills were assessed directly through standardized assessments, while their perceptions of the teacher-child relationship (i.e., warmth, negativity, encouragement for autonomy) were assessed through an interview. Parents completed questionnaires about family demographics and home learning experiences. Teachers completed a survey about demographic information and perceptions about relationships (e.g., closeness, conflict, dependency) with each child. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine associations among teacher-child relationships, parental support, and academic outcomes. Findings revealed limited concordance between teachers’ and children’s perception of the quality of the teacher-child relationship, with only teachers’ perceptions of children’s dependency being meaningfully correlated children’s perception of teacher negativity. Both parental support and teacher-child relationships were significant predictors of children’s mathematics and literacy outcomes. Specifically, teachers’ perception of children’s dependency and children’s perception of teacher negativity were negatively associated with children’s academic achievement. Findings from this study provide implications for teachers and parents about how teacher-child relationships and parental support improve children’s academic achievement.

Previous research on children’s academic outcomes has often highlighted parent involvement behaviors as key predictors of students’ academic outcomes, but previous research has typically neglected Hmong American children. Using a sample of N = 423 Hmong American elementary students from Hmong-focused charter schools, the present study seeks to understand the ways in which various parent involvement behaviors (including parent involvement in schooling at home, parent involvement in schooling at school, and parent communication about the importance of education) relate to these students’ perceived academic abilities in reading and math. The present study also investigates whether or not students’ English proficiency moderates these relationships. Findings from regression analyses indicate that English proficiency is the strongest predictor of students’ perceived math and reading abilities. Parent involvement in schooling at school also significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in both content areas, and parent communication about the importance of education significantly predicts students’ perceived abilities in math but not reading. Parent involvement in schooling at home was not a significant predictor of outcome. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

As children become independent readers, they are expected to read, write, speak, and listen with increasing skill and complexity throughout the school years. Literacy is both an independent set of skills and what is used to access classroom content. Yet, less than half of California children in upper elementary grades are meeting or exceeding English language arts standards. In early childhood, the home literacy environment (HLE), generally defined as the interactions between parents and children concerning language and literacy development and the availability of literacy materials in the home, has been shown to be a reliable predictor of student achievement in literacy and an effective area for interventions. However, there is very little research into the HLE of school-aged children and a lack of a coherent definition of the construct for this age group. To gain a better understanding of the HLE for older children, and to develop better questions about how the HLE may impact contemporary child outcomes, an exploratory approach to researching the HLE in middle childhood was necessary. This study explored, through semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the language and literacy activities and practices parents and children (in third to fifth grade) engaged in with each other and on their own outside of school. Interview findings showed ten components that made up the HLE of upper-elementary school-aged children: Homework or School Support; Child Non-School Literacy Behavior; Parent Literacy Behavior; Sibling Literacy Behavior; Family Home Literacy Activities; Family Literacy Outings; Technology; Foreign Language; Parent Beliefs; Child Characteristics. Observations confirmed these findings, while also highlighting the necessity to consider more than the number of books in the home when considering children’s access to text in the home. Overall, this study found that in creating an accurate and informative definition of the HLE construct for this age group to serve as a basis for continued and further research, as well as educational practice, a broader and more inclusive view of family practices and home environments must be considered. The HLE construct must be informative for use by families and education practitioners, and encourage culturally responsive research and classroom environments.

Since the turn of this century, improving school readiness for young children has been a central tenet of research, practice, and public policy at the local, state, and national levels (Blair, 2002; Boethel, 2004; Hair, Halle, Terry-Humen, Lavelle, & Calkins, 2006; Konald & Pianta, 2005; Nores, Belfled, Barnett, & Schweinhart, 2005; Rolnick & Grunewald, 2003; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Snow, 2006; Zigler & Hall, 2000). At the same time, the academic and behavioral expectations for young children in kindergarten have skyrocketed (Bassok & Latham, 2017). Thus, it comes as no surprise that a plethora of early childhood programs supporting the development of behavioral self-regulation are currently under development and evaluation (e.g., Bierman et al., 2008; Bodrova & Leong, 2007; Raver et al., 2008). The most promising of these programs target social and emotional competence, classroom quality, and parent scaffolding support for learning. Yet, very little is known about self-regulation development after the transition to formal schooling or how to promote growth in academic-focused kindergarten programs. The present study explores relations between parent involvement, one potential method, and growth in literacy and self-regulation skills. Thirty-seven kindergarten children were recruited from six classrooms in a rural consolidated school district. Direct assessments of literacy skills and self-regulation skills were collected in the fall and spring. Teachers reported on children’s self-regulated learning behavior in the winter. Parents reported on their involvement in education as well as several demographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the relation between parent involvement and growth in literacy and self-regulation skills after controlling for relevant demographic variables and school readiness skills. Results indicated that parent involvement was not a significant predictor of either spring outcome. In addition, self-regulated learning was not significantly associated with spring literacy or self-regulation skills and could not be explored as a potential mediator. Instead, school readiness skills remained the most robust predictors of success in kindergarten. Implications for future research are discussed.

The effect of parent involvement in schools has been a research concern for decades. However, little research has been conducted on the impact of building parent communities within a preschool program. This study aims to investigate the effects of developing relationships among parents, building parent community, and determining whether or not this increases overall parent satisfaction and involvement. A questionnaire survey will be carried out on 26 families using a pre/post-test pre-experimental design. The findings will show that building positive adult relationships among parents increases overall parent satisfaction and involvement.

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the success of a standards-based grading initiative in meeting its goals. Furthermore, findings from this study will be used to inform decisions made in future grade level implementations. Standards-based grading meets all criteria for a problem of practice. The literature situates standards-based grading as a high impact strategy that can affect the entire system. This mixed-methods study will be used to determine practical changes for a school implementing standards-based grading. This study found parents positively responded to the change, and parents understood their child’s current performance levels. Teachers also positively responded to the change, but had a much larger change involved. The study specifically found that better tools and assessments were needed to successfully implement the program. Suggestions for practitioners and modifications to the program are included in the study.

This study looked beyond the self in self-regulated learning (SRL), recognizing that others (e.g., parents) play a role in adolescents’ developing SRL. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to explore the role parents play in seventh and eighth grade adolescents’ acquisition of six SRL strategies (rehearsal, organization, elaboration, planning, monitoring, and regulating). For the first, quantitative phase, 46 parent/adolescent pairs were surveyed. The highest mean from both parents and adolescents was for the cognitive strategy of rehearsal, while the lowest mean from both parents and adolescents was for the metacognitive strategy of planning. Cohen’s kappa was used to determine similarity between parent/adolescent pairs’ survey data, thereby determining the participants for the second, qualitative phase. Individual, qualitative interviews were held with six parent/adolescent pairs, exploring parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ expectations, how SRL strategies were used, how adolescents learned the strategies, parent involvement in homework and studying, parents’ self efficacy in their ability to support their children's learning, adolescents’ strengths and struggles, and how SRL has changed for adolescents from previous years. Finally, integrated mixed methods results connected quantitative and qualitative results and provided detailed and nuanced descriptions of SRL strategies and parental behaviors aimed at inducing those strategies. Methodological, theoretical, and practical implications are also discussed. Findings from the current study, based on parents’ and adolescents’ personal narratives, offer detailed insight into adolescents’ SRL strategies, as well as parent involvement practices that are accessible to parents from diverse demographics. Parents, teachers, and other education stakeholders can share these findings in an effort to improve adolescents’ SRL through active engagement by parents.

Parental academic socialization (PAS) is the collection of academic messages, school-related parent-child interactions, and parenting behaviors (N. E. Hill & Tyson, 2009) parents use to convey their academic values, beliefs, expectations, and assessment of their child's academic performance. When parents speak with their child frequently about school and learning experiences, that child has greater motivation, engagement, and achievement outcomes (Finn, 1993). However, research has just begun to capture the content of these conversations (i.e., PAS) and their effects on achievement and motivation. The dissertation investigated the impact of four PAS messages (i.e., effort, balance, pressure, and shame) on Black adolescents’ outcomes of psychological well-being, persistence in classroom tasks, preparation for academic tasks, grade point average, and student competence. The research examines parent-adolescent PAS concordance, and relations between PAS and adolescent academic motivation, performance, and engagement. The data utilized were a subset of survey data collected annually between 2010 and 2014 from 308 Black adolescents in grades six to twelve, one of their parents, and a major subject teacher from three suburban Midwestern school districts. Parents and adolescents reported on the occurrence of four PAS messages (i.e., effort, balance, pressure, and shame) using a modified version of the Education Socialization Scale (ESS, Bempechat et al., 1999). Parents (P), adolescents (A), and teachers (T) reported adolescent outcomes of psychological well-being (A), academic persistence (A, T), grade point average (A), preparation for academic tasks (A, P), and student academic competence (T). In an examination of PAS concordance between parents and adolescents, the current study found more agreement between parent-adolescent dyads than reported in previous research by employing a latent profile analysis (LPA) to assess relative, rather than absolute, agreement between socialization informants. In contrast to previous research, the current study demonstrated that parent-adolescent PAS concordance was not always associated with optimal adolescent outcomes. Outcomes were worse for adolescents whose parents reported much more pressure or shame messages than they did and better when parents reported many fewer pressure or shame messages than they did. Both parent and adolescent PAS messages were directly linked to adolescent outcomes of interest. PAS messages of pressure and shame were negatively related to adolescent outcomes. PAS effort message findings were complex. Parent reports of effort messages were negatively related to outcomes. However, adolescent reports of effort messages were positively linked to well-being and persistence-A. Parents’ balance messages were unrelated to adolescent outcomes. However, adolescent reports of balance messages were positively related to well-being, persistence-A, and preparation and negatively related to persistence-T and student competence-T. Adolescent PAS reports mediated the relationship between parent reports and adolescent outcomes in most cases. My findings suggest that is it important to examine the content of the PAS messages and their impact on achievement. My study unearthed complex findings that suggest that pressure and shame messages may compromise achievement while effort and balance messages have both positive and negative implications for adolescents’ psychological well-being and academic functioning. Thus, not all PAS has a positive impact on achievement. These results suggest that both parent and adolescent PAS perspectives matter in unique ways to adolescent outcomes. Additionally, my work offers support for Eccles’ model of parental influences (Eccles, 2007) and expectancy value theory (Eccles & Harold, 1983) suggesting that parenting practices have both a direct and indirect influence on achievement outcomes via child socialization perspectives.

This qualitative research study explored the perceptions first and second generation Vietnamese and Mexican high school students hold on teacher expectations based on their racial identity. Specifically, this study explores the critical concepts of stereotype threat, halo effect, and self-fulfilling prophecy. The primary purpose of this investigation was to enhance the understanding of how the perception students have impacts success or lack of success for two different student groups. This study utilizes interviews with student focus groups to examine student perceptions of teacher expectations among Vietnamese and Mexican students and its impact on student academic performance, the general nature of the perceptions among students, whether or not students of the two races have different perceptions, and what students perceive to be the major implications for teachers based on these perceptions. Results revealed that participants perceived significant differences on what teachers expected of them. In addition, this research also found significant differences on how students perceived they were treated depending on their race. Therefore, the findings highlight the importance strong relationships play in order to enhance student performance as well as how important it is for educators to constantly be cognizant of their non-verbal communication. Furthermore, the results also point out the importance of developing one’s own racial consciousness in order to eliminate implicit biases and stereotypes that cause people to have conscious or unconscious behaviors that can be harmful to students. These behaviors cause students to give up and drop out of school which in turn widens the academic achievement gap. The results highlight important implications for education in general. Additionally, this study examined the results associated with three ethnic identity theoretical perspectives: ethnic identity theory, cultural ecological theory, and transculturation theory.

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and subsequent reauthorizations require the United States Department of Education to distribute funding to states that ultimately goes to local school districts for the purpose of improving the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, including English Language Learners (ELLs). In New Mexico, 64% of public school students participate in Title I programs, and 16% of all New Mexico students are ELLs. However, no studies to date have explored how New Mexico public school districts are implementing Title I with respect to English Language Learners. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct document review and to survey and interview Title I Directors in New Mexico school districts to determine how Title I is implemented with respect to English Language Learners. Results indicated that ELL students participate in New Mexico Title I Programs. Results also indicated that, in addition to the academic needs of students in general, ELLs in Title I Programs in New Mexico have additional needs based on their academic English skills, and in some cases, poverty. To meet these needs, bilingual programs, including the dual language model, are common within the organizational structures. Study participants revealed that collaboration, bilingual education programs, and parent involvement play key roles in fostering the goals of Title I. Significantly, study participants did not indicate that they treat ELLs as a burden. Rather, when thinking about the ELLs in their districts, directors understand these are the students they are serving. As one director exclaimed, "That's who our kids are." These results have important implications for optimizing the education of ELL students in New Mexico, including improvements in organizational structures, improved programs for parents, and increases in professional development. Combined, the findings of this study highlight how New Mexico public school districts are implementing Title I with respect to English Language Learners.

The United States' economic future and ability to compete in the global economy is dependent on increasing the nation's higher education attainment rates. The U.S. has a persisting and widening educational attainment gap for underserved groups and marginalized populations. Policymakers, industry leaders, educators and social advocates agree that the that increasing college-going and college completion for underserved groups, particularly, first-generation populations can help secure the nation's economic future. College access programs that involve parents and families have demonstrated success in helping first-generation college students and marginalized students in navigating the college choice process. While the literature on college choice and college preparation programs identify parent and family involvement as one of the most influential factors in the college going process; there is an evident lack of research focused on how such programs engage parents and families. Recognizing this gap, this instrumental case study explored a summer college access program that fosters parent and family involvement. This study revealed that the primary engagement practices included a meeting with all program participants and their parents/guardians; an overnight weekend campus visit for the parents/guardians of new program participants; and efforts around creating a relationship with the program participants and their families. A central component of these efforts include funding resources, institutional support, and program alumni involvement. The study also revealed opportunities for leveraging the community cultural wealth found within marginalized communities.

Given the stakes regarding parent involvement, satisfaction, and choice in international schools, information regarding the measurement of parent perception and experience is highly desirable. Though International Schools of China (ISC) collected data from parents annually, little was known about the survey instrument. Therefore, this study examined the psychometric properties—the underlying latent structure and internal reliability—of the ISC Parent Survey. Using existing data obtained from the 2014 collection cycle (N=309), an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on 72 likert-scale items. Results from this study identified 13 (including 11 well-defined and internally consistent) factors that measure various concepts of parent experience in an international school community. Each of the factors aligned well with previous literature on parent involvement, satisfaction, and choice, and the results of this study may indeed be the first of its kind. In addition, ISC leadership now has specific steps to improve the further development and use of their parent survey. Furthermore, the findings of this study reveal a need for international schools to reevaluate the way that they engage parents. With so many additional overlapping spheres of influence in the international school setting, schools must focus on examining parent experience through each parents’ cultural lens. The identified constructs, such as school respect for parents, academics, leadership, and communication, that were discovered in this study may aid international schools in learning how to build better parent and school partnerships.