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.