Parent Involvement and Literacy Achievement

Vanessa DeVito

Education 703.22 Spring 2008

Table of ContentsIntroduction-Statement of the Problem-Review of the Related Literature-Statement of the HypothesisMethod-Participants-Instruments-Experimental Design (Threats to Validity)-ProcedureResults-Correlational Graphs/ChartsDiscussionImplications

IntroductionStatement of the Problem:*Is there a direct correlation between parent involvement

and literacy achievement in the third grade?

Review of the Related Literature:• Yes, parental involvement is related to literacy

achievement• NCLB Act of 2001-parents and schools must work

together to meet goals in reading and math-Hoff (2007); Machen, Wilson & Notar (2005).

• Parents are the first and most influential teachers –Hawes & Plourde (2005).

*Create a seamless wave of learning between school and home-Crawford et al. (2006).

Piaget/Vygotsky*Parent’s attitudes towards literacy influence the way children

perceive literacy-Biggam (2003); Edwards (2003); DePlanty et al., (2007).

*When parents become involved…students are more motivated to read voluntarily & participate in literacy activities-Gonzalez-DeHass et al., (2005); Dearing (2004).

*Increased social interactions between parent and child promotes literacy achievement-Darling et al., (2004); Senechal (2006).

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences• Incorporate technology and literacy-parents & children team

up to create family histories, cookbooks & holiday letters- Jacobi et al. (2003).

Parental Involvement Is Somewhat Related To Literacy Achievement

• No concrete definition of Parental Involvement-it is difficult to measure its effectiveness-Feuerstein (2000).

• Inconsistent demographics result in parental involvement program flaws- Prislin et al. (2002).

• Involvement may do little to encourage students’ learning …but it effectively prevents students’ misbehavior-Domina (2002).

• The long-term effects of parental involvement must be further researched-National Literacy Trust (2001).

No, Parental Involvement Is Not Related To Literacy Achievement

* Cannot judge a subject specific area [such as literacy] of achievement-a students’ GPA is a better overall indicator –Fan & Chen (2001).

Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism• Parents aspiration & expectation for children’s educational

achievement…has the strongest relationship with students’ academic achievement- Fan et al. (2001).

Statement of the Hypothesis:*Effective parent involvement leads to literacy achievement for

eighteen 3rd grade students at PS 206 in Brooklyn, NY.

MethodParticipants:-23 3rd grade students from class 3-209 (general ed.)-18 3rd grade students and one of their parents Students: 11 boys 7 girls 8-8 yrs. Old 10-9 yrs. Old Parents: 1 male 17 females-3-209 classroom teacher 32 year old female

Instruments:-Parent/Student Consent Form-Parent Questionnaire-Student Questionnaire-Teacher Questionnaire

Experimental Design:*Quasi-Experimental-Single Group*One group-one designated treatment group (X¹) no control

group (X²).*One-Shot Case Study*Single group exposed to a treatment (X) and posttested (O).*Symbolic Design: XO

Threats to Internal Validity:*History

*Maturation

*Instrumentation

*Mortality

Threats to External Validity:*Generalizability*Ecological Validity*Specificity of Variables*Experimenter Effects

Procedure:*Research conducted Feb. –April 2008*Feb. 15-Parent/Student consent forms distributed*Feb. 25-18 Parent/18 Student Participants*Feb. 26-First of eight weekly literacy assessments*April 7-Parent Questionnaires distributed*April 15-Student Questionnaires completed

-Teacher Questionnaire completed

Parental Involvement (x):Parent Questionnaires, Student Questionnaires, Teacher

QuestionnaireLiteracy Achievement (y):*Students’ views of Parental Involvement, attitudes towards

literacy self-concept and literacy achievement*Average of 8 Scholastic Reading Counts! Scores as measured

by SAM. Mirrors the goals of the NCLB Act of 2001.*Scores were correlated to Frequency of Paired Reading to

determine if a relationship existed.

Results*Strong positive relationship between parent involvement

and literacy achievement. *Levels of parent involvement mirrored child’s views of

level of parent involvement-consistent involvement throughout the year.

*3/18 parents reported higher frequencies of involvement in comparison to their children.

*Teacher implements consistent strategies to engage parents.

*50% of parents agree that lack of time is the biggest challenge.

*Parents with positive attitudes towards literacy had children with these same views.

*Strong positive correlation between literacy achievement and frequency of paired reading.* The coefficient (.rxy) is 0.933. It is positive for line of best fit.

*Salient findings about parents’ educational levels in reference to their child’s literacy achievement:

‹ HS =78%, 72%Graduated HS=68%Masters +=96%

*Parent involvement occurred much more frequently in the home than at school.

Discussion*Findings were consistent with Vygotsky’s theory of social

constructivism (Biggam, 2003; DePlanty et al., 2007; Edwards, 2003; Fan et al., 2000; Hill et al., 2004; Wherry, 2007).

*Lack of time due to work and the home is the greatest challenge (Anderson et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2006). Parents are more involved at home than at school.

*Frequent paired reading mirrors Piaget’s teaching theories (Albee, et al., 2003; Darling et al., 2004; Senechal, 2006).

*Learning should be constant both at home and at school (Crawford et al., 2006).

*Mixed research about the long-term effects of specific types of parent involvement (Dearing, et al., 2004; Gonzalez-DeHass, et al. 2005; Fox 2003).

*More targeted research is needed to determine the correlation between SES and literacy achievement (Flowers, 2007; Mattingly et al., 2002).

*No findings of the relationship between parent involvement and child behavioral problems could be made (Barton, et al., 2004; Domina, 2002).

Implications

*No validity and reliability coefficients-pilot study

*Larger sample size

*Diverse cultural backgrounds/SES

*Variations of parent involvement

*Other measures of literacy achievement

*More long-term studies

References

O’Connor-Petruso, S. (2008). Descriptive Statistics PowerPoint. Brooklyn College, Graduate Department of Education.