Parent involvement in elementary education
Date
1990
Authors
Lawrence, Gerald Carman
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Abstract
This study considers the attitudes of four educational constituencies toward parent involvement in elementary education in four schools in northwestern Alberta. The four constituencies are central office administrators, school administrators, teachers, and parents. The study also considers the impact of Alberta's Early Childhood Services (E.C.S.) model of parent involvement on these attitudes and considers the effect of these attitudes upon the formation and functioning of school councils. Four questions were considered. What kind of parent involvement, if any, is supported by each constituency? Are these attitudes congruent with the E.C.S. model of parent involvement? Are the constituencies congruent in their attitudes? Are the members of each constituency congruent in their attitudes?
Three self-reporting questionnaires asked for attitudes toward parent involvement and for experiences with parent involvement in E.C.S. and in school. Respondents represented all groups within each constituency. Because administrators
and teachers were not randomly selected, measures of significance were not calculated. The study included four schools, two in a Catholic jurisdiction which also operates its own E.C.S. program, and two in a County jurisdiction which has only recently offered E.C.S. programs. Parents in the County system have had experience with private E.C.S. operation. One small rural school and one large urban school from each jurisdiction were included in the study.
Constituency respondents in the large urban schools were more positive toward parent involvement than were those in the small rural schools· in this study. Attitudes towards parent involvement appeared to be developed in E.C.S. and carried into school. All school administrators in the small schools in this study preferred to limit parent involvement to volunteer roles other than decision-making.
Parents without E.C.S. executive experience were most likely to attend school meetings, while experienced parents preferred to be involved at the jurisdictional level. Parents whose experience with E.C.S. was five years ago were more supportive of involvement roles than were parents with recent involvement with E.C.S. Teachers communicated with parents most often by telephone, but most of this communication was to report student problems to a minority of parents. Parents were not asked for input into school decisions.
School administrators and teachers in small schools were resistant to parent involvement in issues of teacher assignment and tenure, even though the majority of parents believed that influence over such issues was their right. This topic appears to have potential for conflict within school councils.