Date

6-2018

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Johnnie Seago

Keywords

Adequate Yearly Progress, Dialogism, Parental Involvement, Standards of Learning

Disciplines

Education | Elementary Education | Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental, phenomenological study was to understand third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers’ experiences with academic parental involvement at denied-accreditation elementary schools. Parent involvement refers to two-way communication between parents and teachers. Denied accreditation refers to schools scoring below 70% on state assessments for four or more consecutive years. The theories guiding this study were the Getzels and Guba (1957) social systems theory and Bakhtin’s (1986) theory of dialogism as they influence teachers’ experiences of academic parental involvement through socio-psychological and dialogic environmental interactions. The research questions for this study included: How do third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers at denied-accreditation schools describe their experiences with academic parental involvement?; What specific training do participants experience to encourage and respond to academic parental involvement at denied-accreditation schools?; In what ways do third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers perceive their experiences with academic parental involvement influence their communication methods with parents at denied-accreditation schools? Utilizing Moustakas’ (1994) structured approach to research, data collection, horizonalization, and triangulation included pictorial representations, open-ended, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group interview. Due to the transcendental, phenomenological approach, bracketing was utilized to assure that the lived experiences of the participants were understood and not interpreted. Finally, Moustakas’ steps created a composite description that will help to understand the essence of the phenomenon.

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