Strategies for Strengthening and Encouraging Parent Involvement to Support Academic Achievement

Date of Conferral

11-6-2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Cathryn Walker

Abstract

Experiencing low parent involvement can affect students’ academic achievement. The problem this study addressed was low parent involvement for kindergarten–3rd-grade (K–3) students at the private elementary school in a southeastern state in the United States. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how parents described their participation and involvement in the education of their K–3 students and to elicit their recommendations for strengthening and encouraging parent involvement to improve academic achievement for K–3 students at the private elementary study site. Epstein’s model of parent involvement informed this study. The research questions focused on how participating parents described their participation and involvement and what recommendations they had for strengthening involvement to promote academic achievement for K–3 students at the study site. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with nine participants who met the criteria of (a) having one or more student(s) in K–3 at the study site and (b) being the parent or legal guardian of the child. Data analysis involved the use of a priori and open coding to identify codes, categories, and themes. The emergent themes were (a) communication challenges, time constraints, schedules, and trust; (b) decision-making; (c) alternate forms of communication and parent opportunities; and (d) community resources and systemic interventions. The findings may inform stakeholders about the needs of parents at the study site. With this knowledge, stakeholders may be able to enact systems to strengthen parent involvement and decision-making thereby potentially promoting student achievement and positive social change.

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