Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Andrea Wilson

Abstract

Administrators were concerned over a lack of minority parental involvement and challenges in meeting the needs of a rapidly growing minority student population in a local school district. To enhance minority parental involvement, one local middle school implemented the Study Circles program that involved a series of interactive small group sessions in which parents and educators collaborate to build a culturally sensitive, inclusive community. The problem addressed in this study was grounded in the fact that the adequacy of this program’s implementation to address the low minority parental involvement at the school was not fully understood. Guided by Epstein’s model of parental involvement, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators about benefits and challenges of implementing the Study Circles program. Semistructured interviews were conducted in person or by phone with two teachers, three administrators, one counselor, and one district coordinator familiar with the implementation of the Study Circles program. Findings derived from open coding of interviews suggested that the benefits of Study Circles implementation were the creation of cultural understanding, building of relationships, promotion of honest dialogue, and parent participation in their children’s school, whereas challenges included parent recruitment, logistics, follow up, and communication with parents. A professional development training aimed at improving Study Circles program implementation at the local school was created. With improved program implementation, positive social change may occur as the barriers to minority parents’ involvement in their children’s education are surmounted over time.

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