Date of Award

12-17-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Elizabeth Vaughn-Neely

Abstract

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires states, districts, and schools develop and implement parental involvement policies, yet, the extent of implementation remains largely unmeasured (United States Department of Education, 2002). Thus, the researcher surveyed 142 elementary school administrators and 639 parents in a southern state to determine if a statistically significant difference existed between parent and administrator perceptions and practices and current knowledge of parental involvement as outlined in NCLB and whether parental responses differed by demographics. The survey utilized a four-point Likert-type Scale with 12 questions measuring perceptions and practices (Cronbach's alpha = .84) and 8 measuring current knowledge (Cronbach's alpha = .91). The study employed a descriptive research and causal-comparative research design. The researcher answered the research questions using a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and three-way factorial MANOVA. Administrators (M = 3.607, SD = 0.295) reported statistically significantly (F (1, 762) = 13.721, p < .001, η 2 = .018) higher perception and practice scores than parents (M = 3.487, SD = 0.356). Similarly, results revealed a statistically significant difference (F (1, 762) = 44.363, p < .001, η2 = .055) between the administrators' (M = 3.666, SD = 0.355) and parents' current knowledge (M = 3.321, SD = 0.587). When comparing the perception and practice and current knowledge scores of parents by socioeconomic status, race, and educational level, only race was significant (Pillai's Trace = .041, F (6, 1046) = 3.686 p < .001, multivariate η2 = .021). Contrary to existing research, black/African American and Hispanic/Latino American parents exhibited greater knowledge of NCLB than white/European Americans.

Download

Share

COinS