1. EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research ( MRD1423A ) Instructor: Frederick Ansoff Andrea Chisholm

2. Area-of-focus statement The reasons why parents avoid involving themselves in their children’s education.

3. Review of Literature Parental involvement has been associated with stronger academic achievement by children and adolescents, as well as increases in student attributes conducive to academic success, including improved school attendance and behavior, more positive perceptions of classroom and school climate, stronger self-regulatory skills, stronger work orientation, and higher educational aspirations (Zellman & Waterman, 1998).

4. Variables The variables and factors that are going to be of concern while performing the research are the effects of family diversity, the vast social and cultural differences among the teachers, students and parents, the challenges that teachers face by involving parents in their children’s education. The research shall also focus on the three psychological factors that contribute to resistance by parents. The effects of lack of knowledge, respect by teachers on ethnicity and cultures of different families.

5. Research questions In what ways do parents and teachers agree or differ about family involvement in school activities? What do parents say about their involvement in their children’s education? Does it improve the child’s view of education?

6. The intervention In order to engage effectively with parents, staff will have required training and coaching, school staff will receive parental engagement training through initial teacher training or continuing professional development. Parents will receive clear, specific and targeted information from the school. SAMS can contribute to improved parental engagement by providing a convenient means for parents to access up-to-date information about their child’s learning and progress, attendance and behavior via the school’s administration system. SAMS enables parents to be more engaged with their child’s learning. Students will benefit by parental engagement, it has a large and positive impact on children’s learning. School staff members will strive to help parents feel welcome, important, and comfortable in the school setting. Parents are actively supported to participate at school and at home. Teachers will use parents as volunteers in the classroom and encourages parents to assist children with their reading and writing homework. There will be support for family and parenting activities. Students generally achieve better grades, test scores, and attendance. Students have better self-esteem, are more self-disciplined, and show higher aspirations and motivation toward school (Home-School Relations).

7. The membership of the action research group The membership of the research group are 30 parents and 20 teachers. and 30 students.

8. Negotiations that need to be undertaken are confidentiality and anonymity, informed consent and assent, and minimizing risk of harm. All parents must give their permission to be part of a study and they must be given pertinent information to make an informed consent to participate. I will also get permission from the principal.

9. Timeline Within a month everything will be in place. First thing, all staff will strive to help parents feel welcome, important, and comfortable in the school setting. Next, teachers will get all grades in the SAMS within a week so parents can track their child’s progress. Then, parents are actively supported to participate at school and at home. All staff will participate in parental engagement training through a professional development within two weeks. Teachers will use parents as volunteers in the classroom and encourages parents to assist children with their reading and writing homework. There will be support for family and parenting activities in the parent center.

10. Statement of resources. Parent center for parents Staff will have training and coaching Initial teacher training Continuing professional development.

11. Data collection I plan on collecting data by getting a selection of parents in an urban low-income school, based on observation and reports from parents and staff in the school. I will conduct qualitative focus group interviews of teachers, parents, and students. in low-income settings. 30 parents and 20 teachers will be chosen to be interviewed. This school covers the 4 to 10 age range. This is a small school that has 220 students. Semi Structured interviews with a cross section of respondents including teachers, parents, support staff and students: 20 Members of school staff, 30 parents and 20 hours of interviews will be recorded. Interviews According to Geoffrey E. Mills, email interviews for busy teachers it may be a far more effective use of time to engage in an ongoing conversation using email“(2014,p.92).

12. References Home-School Relations: Working Successfully with Parents and Families, by G. Olsen, M.L. Fuller, 2008 edition, p. 129-130. Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Zellman, G. L., & Waterman, J. M. (1998). Understanding the impact of parent school involvement on children’s educational outcomes. Journal of Educational Research, 91, 370-380.