Leaving No Family Behind: A Qualitative Case Study of the Perceptions of Parent Involvement in One Low-Income, Urban Middle School

• Main Author: McMahon, Molly E.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Boston College 2010
• Subjects: Home-School partnerships; Middle School; Parent Involvement; Parent participation; relational trust; sociocultural theory
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1834

Thesis advisor: Diana Pullin === Parents are the primary educators of their children and the consistent teachers throughout their lives. However, with raised expectations through curriculum state standards and high stakes testing for students, teachers and schools, families are being left behind. A particular turning point in students' education is during the middle school years when intellectual, character, social and emotional transitions occur and habits are formed. Therefore, this qualitative, single case study uses data sources of interviews, observations and artifacts to determine the appropriate role of parents at the middle school level as perceived by administrators, teachers with administrative duties, teachers and parents. Additionally, this research sought to determine the unique factors that impede more effective partnerships between home and school and analyze the current situation using the sociocultural theory to determine if beliefs and values match the social structures in place at this particular school and provide implications for practice. Findings reveal the parent role is defined by consistent communication between home and school for unified adult expectations. Unique factors impeding parent participation at this level are based on this particular age of the students. Using sociocultural theory, it is evident that the school community culture prevails over individual beliefs and is impeded by two underlying sub cultures of rationalizations and assumptions, which allow participation to remain infrequent. There are additional overarching issues discussed that go beyond sociocultural theory. Finally, recommendations for practice are made for this particular school and the middle school level. === Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. === Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. === Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.