DOCUMENT RESUME PS 026 283 ED 416 997 Gregg, Gloria A. AUTHOR A Study of Parent Involvement in Montana Public Schools. A TITLE Work in Progress. Montana State Univ., Bozeman. Coll. of Education, Health, INSTITUTION and Human Development. 1996-00-00 PUB DATE 145p. NOTE Research (143) -- Tests/Questionnaires (160) Reports PUB TYPE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE *Administrator Attitudes; Elementary Secondary Education; DESCRIPTORS *Parent Attitudes; *Parent Participation; Parent School Relationship; *Public Schools; School Community Relationship; *Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Surveys *Montana; Parent Surveys IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This study, conducted by the Center for Community-School had two Development and Testing Services at Montana State University, children and (1) to gather information from parents of school-age purposes: perceptions about school personnel, particularly teachers, to determine their education of the status of and the need for parental involvement in the develop a children in Montana; and (2) to utilize the results of the study to policy makers that would set of recommendations for various state and local involvement in the strengthen, increase, and support parent and community study: a education of school-age children. Three groups participated in the children, a group of 750 classroom group of 1,000 parents of school-age members. teachers, and a group of 250 school administrators and board developed Participants completed a questionnaire adapted from questionnaires Communities, Schools and by the Johns Hopkins University Center on Families, four sections: Children's Learning. The extensive findings were divided into (2) data about existing (1) respondents' opinions about parent involvement; (3) training and barriers; and (4) and desired levels of parent involvement; similarities and differences between various groups of respondents. relationship Generally, parents and teachers agreed that the family-school letters, could be improved. (Appendices contain permission and cover (EV) questionnaires, and data tables for questionnaire results.) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Xiihis document has been reproduced as eceived from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. A STUDY OF PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN MONTANA PUBLIC SCHOOLS . A Work in Progress Conducted by: The Center for Community-School Development and Testing Services College of Education, Health and Human Development Montana State University Gloria A. Gregg, Director c.;) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 01\\e x C. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) AVAILABLE BEST COPY INTRODUCTION In the fall of 1993, the Center for Community-School Development and Testing Services (Here after referred to as the Center.) at Montana State University was funded to conduct a study titled Parent Involvement in Montana Public Schools. Funding for this study was through the Field Initiated Studies program of .the Office of Education Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. As originally conceived, the purpose of the study was twofold. The first purpose was to gather information from parents of school-aged children and school personnel, particularly teachers, to determine their perceptions about the status of and the need for parental involvement in the education of their children in the State of Montana. The second purpose was to uti'ize the results pf the study to develop a set of recommendations for various state and local policy makers that would strengthen, increase and support parent and community involvement in the education of school-aged children. While some minor changes were made as the study progressed, both purposes were ultimately accomplished. The principal investigator for the study was Dr. Gloria A. Gregg, Director of the Center. She was assisted by a research advisory team and a graduate research assistant. Members of the research advisory team were: Dr. Randy Hitz, Dean College of Education, Health and Human Development Dr. Larry Baker, Administrati've Assistant to the Dean College of Education, Health and Human Development 1 Dr. Ann DeOnis, Assistant Professor The Department of Education Dr. Sandy Osborne, Associate Professor The Department of Health and. Human Development Drs. Hitz, DeOnis and Osborne all have backgrounds in early childhood and an interest in the role parents play in educating their children. Dr. Baker has considerable experience and expertise in data management and analysis. The role of the advisory research team was to provide ideas at various stages as the study,progressed and to help facilitate the meeting which developed recommendations for action for various state and local policy makers that would strengthen, increase and support parent. involvement. The graduate research_ assistant for the project was Cheryl Johannes. Cheryl was a former classroom teacher and elementary principal before becoming a full-time graduate student in the doctoral program in school administration at Montana State University. Her role was to help facilitate mailing the questionnaires, monitoring returns, entering all data and helping organize the meeting to develop recommendations for action. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY Over the past several years, the role of parents in the education of their children has taken on a heightened status due in part to the school effectiveness movement, site- , based management in some schools, and the issue of choice related to the school that a school-aged young person would attend. Additional impetus has been provided through the passage in 1994 of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act that has eight goals, one of which speaks specifically to "schools promoting partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in. promoting the social, emotional and academic growth of 2 children" (The National PTA, The Next Step is Yours. Chicago, ILL: National PTA Headquarters). The Montana Goals 2000 panel has also recently adopted nine goals for the state one of which focuses on parent involvement. There has also been considerable research over the past several years that demonstrates the positive impacts parent involvement can have on the achievement of children in school (Benson, C.; Buckley, S. and Elliott, A., 1980; and Walberg, H.; Bole, R.; and Waxman, H., 1980). The work by Epstein (1987) indicates that there are positive, significant changes in reading achievement from fall to spring in those classrooms where teachers are leaders in terms-of involving parents. An extensive review of the literature by Becher (1984) led her to conclude that "there are several key family process variables, or ways of behaving, that are clearly related to student achievement. Children with high achievement scores have parents with high expectations for them, who respond to and interact with them frequently, and who see themselves as teachers of their children." Becher continues her conclusions by stating that "parent education programs, particularly those training low-income parents to work with their children, are effective in improving how well children use language skills, perform on tests, and behave in school." In Montana, the newly adopted school accreditation standards clearly require Schools to involve parents and other community members in the. education process. These standards, developed as a result of a statewide project titled Project Excellence, Designing Education for the Next Century and adopted in 1989, set the stage for the "The Montana public school is a positive need for parent and community involvement. partnership of school trustees, staff, students, parents, and the community. Its central purpose is the intellectual development of its students." Two specific standards speak directly to this involvement. Rule 10.55.603 Curriculum Development and Assessment, 2(a): Establish curriculum and assessment development processes as a cooperative effort of personnel certified in the program area, trustees, administrators, other teachers, students, specialist, parents, community and, when appropriate, state resource people. Rule 10.55.801 School Climate, (i): Encourage the active involvement of parents in their children's education and ii their schools and (j): Provide opportunities for parents,, educators, and members of the community to take active roles in developing and reviewing educational goals. In the past, organized efforts to involve parents and other community members in Montana schools have been limited to more traditional activities such as PTA groups, school volunteer programs, occasional use of advisory groups and those federally funded programs (Head Start, Chapter I 'etc.) where some type of involvement was required. More recently, two districts have received Even Start grants which require strong parent invorvement components. In the spring of 1995, the Montana Parent, Teacher, Student Association sponsored a series of six parent involvement conferences: The purpose was twofold: to help increase awareness of the need to get parents involved and to discuss what makes 'parent involvement work. As a rural state, Montana provided a unique laboratory in which to study parent involvement. Montana's 147,000 square miles make it the fourth largest state geographically. The state could easily encompass all of the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio where the population would total about 48 million in comparison to Montana's 822,000 (1992 Census Update). Another view of the rural nature of Montana is to consider that 47 of the 56 counties, have less than six people per square mile. Counties of this size are often referred to as the American frontier. With no community having a population of 100,000, at least 47% have a population under 2,500. As a result, many of Montana's 546 school districts are very small and many communities still operate one, two or three room schools. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Purpose of the Study The overall purpose of this study was twofold: 1. To conduct a study of parents of school-aged children and school personnel, particularly classroom teachers, to determine their,perceptions about the status of and the need for parental involvement in the education of their children in the state of Montana 2. To utilize the results of this study plus other appropriate research and information from the literature to develop a set of recommendations for various state and local level policy makers that would strengthen, increase and support parent and community involvement in the education_ of 'school- aged children To accomplish purpose one of the study, a set of questions was postulated: 1. To what extent and how are parents of school-aged children involved in the edUcation of their children, both in and out of the school setting? 2. To what extent and how would parents of school-aged children like to be involved in the education of their children, both in and out of the school setting? 3. To what extent and how do school personnel, particularly classroom teachers, currently involve parents in the education of their children, both in and out of the school setting? 4. To what extent and how would school personnel, particularly classroom teachers, like parents to be involved in the education of their children, both 5 7 in and out of the school setting? 5. What are the differences in perceptions between parents and school personnel, particularly classroom teachers, in'terms of the existing level and types of parent involvement? 6. What are the differences in perceptions between parents and school personnel, particularly classroom-teachers, in terms of how much and what type of parent involvement they would like to have? 7. Does the size of the school district impact the existing or desired amount and type of parent involvement? 8. Does the income level and educational background of the parent(s) impact the existing and desired amount and type of parent involvement? 9. Does the grade level taught by teachers impact the existing and desired amount and type of parent involvement? 10. Does the position held by the school administrator impact the existing and desired amount and type of parent involvement? 11. What formal preparation have school personnel, particularly teachers, had relative to involving parents? 12. What formal assistance have parents received from the local school or other sources that would assist them in being more effectively involved in the education of their school-aged children, both in and out of the school setting? 13. What are the perceptions of parents of the barriers to becoming more 'effectively involved in the educatioh of their children? 14. What are the perceptions of school personnel, particularly teachers, of the barriers to more effectively involving parents in the education of their children? The results related to the second purpose of the study, developing a set of recommendations for action, are discussed in a separate document. It is however, important to note that preliminary' data collected to accomplish the first purpose was an integral part of developing these recommendations. Research Design The *research design was a form of descriptive survey research. "The method of research that simply looks with intense accuracy at the phenomena of the moment and The then describes precisely what the researcher sees is called the descriptive survey . . . basic assumption underlying such an approach is that given phenomena usually follow a common pattern, or norm" (Leedy, P., 1980). Dillman's total design method (TDM) was used as a guideline for conducting all aspects of the study. In particular, use of the TDM was intended to help insure that the first is to identify response rate would be adequate. "The TDM consists of two parts. The each aspect of the survey process that may affect either the -quality or quantity of response and to share each of them in such a way that the best possible responses are obtained. The second is to organize the survey efforts so that the design intentions are carried out in complete detail" (Dillman, 1978). Population and Sample Ay% Three groups of individuals were selected to participate in this study. The first was 750 classroom a group of 1,000 parents of school-aged children; the second, a group of teachers; and the third, a group of 250 school administrators and board members. While the original research proposal did not include school board members, the advisory team. This group group was included at the recommendation of the research suggested that the sample size for school administrators be reduced to 200 and a sample of 50 school board members be included. For the parents, a mailing list of 1,000 names was purchased from Donnelley Marketing, Inc. This company was asked to produce a list that would be a proportional representation of households with school-aged children. Selection of names was based on the 1993-94 total public school enrollment in various geographic sections of 'the state. During 1993-94, a total of 159,768 students was enrolled statewide. Of these, 44,608 (28%) were in high school and 115,152 (72%) were in elementary school. To facilitate selection of the sample, it was necessary to establish parameters for the ages at the two levels. For the purposes of this study, high school ages were established as 14 - 18 and elementary and middle school as .ages,5 - 13. The list was also to have at least 20 percent of the names representing low-income families. The decision to use 20 percent was based on the fact that 20 percent of Montana children under the age of 18 live in poverty according to federal guidelines. Table 1 provides_the break downs for the parent list. Table 1: Break Downs for Parent Mailing List Western Montana Eastern Montana 98,227 Total 1993-94 School Enrollment 57,542 Total Households in Sample 630 370 Total Households with High 176 104 School Age Children 454 Total Households with Elementary 266 School Age Children Number of Households Below the 126 74 Poverty Level Mailing lists for teachers were not available because of confidentiality issues so the sample of 750 teachers was selected in collaboration with the Montana Education_ Association (MEA) which agreed to help us with this portion of the study. The role of MEA was to select the sample according to the guidelines given to them and to mail 8 1 0