May Progress

At this point, I am breaking down the test scores for the year.  These scores and the final grades for each student will provide me with the data needed to complete the project.  Many of my students are successful, many have parents that stay involved, but there are a few that do not have the support at home needed to keep them going in the direction needed.  Much of my research and data gathering should be complete before the end of the summer.

Continued Work

At this point in my research project, I am continuing to analyze the data from my students and their work.  I have been charting my students' grades in the class, on projects, and on tests, as well as documenting all parental involvement with parents.  This information is being charted for students whose parents are involved and those who are not.  At the end of the school year, I should have a report to show how parental involvement has impacted this small group of students.

As noted in previous posts, my project is designed to determine the worth of parental involvement in the classroom.  With my students, 6th graders, this is a very important time in their lives in terms of parental involvement.  Many of the parents believe that their child no longer needs the attention in school that they once provided and many of the students do not want their parents involved.  My goal is to show both that they should yearn for the opposite.  From my discussions with teachers and the research, it is noted that students with parents that are not involved tend to have more discipline issues and a higher failure rate in classes.  I do not want that for any of my students and I truly wonder if the parents realize this is a consequence to allowing their child to "grow up" by leaving their education totally in their hands.

I have already hosted the initial meeting to introduce my parents to the concepts of how to stay "connected"; however, I plan to host at least one more before the current school year is up.  Beyond that, I plan to restart this project with a new group of students next school year.  If successful, my roadmap to parental involvement could be something that the entire campus adopts.  Let's all hope for success!

Parent Meeting

The parent meeting took place on January 14, 2013 in the computer lab.  Twelve of my seventy-nine students had parents there to represent them - a little more than 15%.  Parents were given the opportunity learn from the counselor in charge or parental involvement, an assistant principal, and myself.  Items discussed include parent meetings on campus, Skyward parent access, communicating with teachers, and important dates in Pre-AP Language Arts to finish the year.  Monitoring will continue from here.

Research Update

My research is moving along smoothly.  I have completed the spreadsheets that contain the information on the students needed prior to beginning my research.  The same spreadsheet will be used later in order to compare my results after the research is completed.  The date for my initial parent meeting is set and the documents (invitation, informational sheet, Skyward access information, survey, etc.) for the meeting are just about completed.  I have solicited the help of the counselor in charge of parent contact and another colleague on campus has offered assistance for the meeting as well.  Let's hope the entire research process goes this well.

Challenges of the Research

As I'm looking at my research project, I am excited to get started and to begin to document the results.  In my mind, things are going to go well and I'll find the information that I'm looking for.  However, I have to stop myself and be realistic, realistic about the challenges that I could face.
The first challenge begins with the target audience - the parents.  I need the parents to believe that my presentation is a worthwhile investment of their time.  I need parents to actually attend the informational sessions and to get involved using the information presented to them.  I plan to send letters home with the students and use our automated call-out, email, and texting service in order to continually remind parents about this great opportunity to help their child.
Another challenge is TIME!  Time seems to be everyone's concern when they're conducting an inquiry on top of the other things that life has to offer.  As Master's students, we now have an action research project to go along with the internship opportunities that we are to be seeking (150 hours), and the actually classes that we are taking.  I'm really doing my best to take it one week at a time.  In no way do I want my personal life (earning this degree) to get in the way of giving everything I possibly can to my students in the classroom.  I have and will continue to push towards being the best I can be at both, but, if push comes to shove, my focus will not leave my students.  Let's hope I can continue to be successful at managing my time wisely on both fronts.

Describing the Study

As a Title I campus, parental involvement is stressed and new ways are always being sought to involve parents.  This research project contains plans to educate the parents on how to be involved in their child's education through a training program that will educate parents on various ways to be aware of their child's progress.  My belief is that the parents are interested in helping their child succeed, however, proper guidance is needed.
As I stated before, my research will be conducted on a Title I campus.  This is a campus of only sixth grade students, 80% of which are economically disadvantaged.  I will conduct the training for all interested parents; however, my sample size will be 80 students, all of which are my current students.  I chose to keep my study to this sample size so that the information was readily available and so that my reported results were more accurate.  My sample size is also diverse in many ways - more than five races are represented, the male to female ratio is relatively equal, there are at-risk students, gifted and talented student, students with high and low grades across all subject areas, and a relatively equal proportion of economically disadvantaged students as compared to the school.
This research will require me to hold parent meetings where involvement in their child's education is discussed.  Parents will also have the opportunity to learn technology that can aid in the monitoring process of their child.  This technology includes access to their child's grades through an online, real-time program, and information on how to acquire an email address (if they do not already have one).  Parents will be instructed on how to go about contacting teachers and be encouraged to do so.  Once parents have gone through this initial meeting, their contact with the teachers will be monitored as well as their student's progress academically.  Schedules for other parental involvement meetings and surveys will also be disseminated at all meetings.  Through the implementation of a more in-depth parental involvement program, the goal is for barriers to be removed for improved student learning.  The research question: How does improving the parental involvement program at a Title I campus affect the academic performance of the students?

The Purpose and Significance

My proposed action research study, as stated before, deals directly with parental involvement.  The purpose of the plan is to research the change in academic achievement of students whose parents become more involved in their education and the difference in academic achievement of students whose parents are not involved.  I will meet with parents at least once a month after school in large group settings.  Meetings will be scheduled to teach parents how to be involved and where to find their student's academic information as well as stay current on what is happening in their child's classroom.  Parents will be provided with technology training to assist in this matter as the information needed to monitor the child is readily available online.  This technology training should also assist the parent in keeping in contact with their student's teachers.

I believe that there is a great significance to this research study.  First of all, the most important stakeholders, the students, will surely benefit.  Students will benefit because they will have the extra support and push from home, even if it is not wanted.  no matter the task, I firmly believe that everyone needs someone there to keep them on track - especially if that person is a child.  The second stakeholder to benefit from the action research will be the parents.  The parents will not only learn how to monitor their child's learning and progress, my goal is to teach the parents mini-lessons on technology and communication.  It is my belief, from experiences I've had and from talking with the children, that many of my student's parents lack the knowledge and confidence to stay readily involved in their child's education - my hope is to change that.  I also believe that the teachers, including myself, will benefit.  We will benefit from the support of the parents and higher grades from the students.  Most educators claim that if the parents just gave more support, everything at school would improve - this research is intended to test that theory.  I also believe that the administration and the school will benefit from better test scores, which should be a result of this study as well.