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Innovative parental involvement: Utilizing information and communication technologies to increase parental involvement
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Content
Running head: PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT 1
INNOVATIVE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: UTILIZING INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES TO INCREASE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
by
Tena Runcorn
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2018
Copyright 2018 Tena Runcorn
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
2
DEDICATION
To my family who loves me unconditionally and have been by my side through this journey.
Though all life’s challenges, changes, and uncertainty you have been my constant. It is because
of you that I strive to be the very best that I can be in everything I do. I love you to “infinity and
beyond.”
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I type the last few words in my dissertation, I realize it marks the end of an incredible
journey; a journey that was full of growth, sacrifice, and faith.
First, I would like to acknowledge my Creator and my Savior, Jesus, who died for me.
He has blessed me beyond what I have deserved. He gave me the gift of life, my intellect, and
the strength to persevere when I doubted myself.
To my husband James, who has loved me, supported me, and inspired me all along. You
have sacrificed your sleep to sit beside me through the long nights, so I would not have to be
alone and have endured all the extra responsibilities thrust upon you without complaint. In
moments when life became chaotic, you were the calm in the storm. When I doubted myself, you
were there to cheer me on. I am blessed that I was on this journey with you. Thank you for who
YOU are. I couldn’t have done this without YOU!! I love you!
To my boys, Elijah, Jonah, Zechariah, Micah, Judah, and Josiah. Everything I do, is for
you. I love you more than anything in this world. Be EVERYTHING you can be, but ALWAYS
be the best version of you. Let God lead the way. Have faith, and pray. Fight for what you want
and what you love. Remember that life is full of possibilities when you work hard, are dedicated,
and have integrity.
To Tifanie and Ophelia (I finally have girls!) Believe in your dreams. Don’t let anyone
else define you. God has a plan for you. I love you!
To Dr. Anthony Maddox who has always believed in me and my abilities, even when I
doubted myself. You provided so much more than guidance. You encouraged me to think, to
question, and to see all of the possibilities. For that, I will always be grateful. I am honored to be
your student.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
4
To Dr. Sarah Lillo and Dr. Monique Datta, thank you for your positive attitudes and your
dedication in the dissertation process. You provided valuable feedback and asked questions that
resulted in growth. You helped me realize my potential. I look up to both of you. You are
amazing!
To my educational colleagues near and far who have been supportive on this journey
from the start; thank you for your support, your patience, and your help along the way. I realize
that I couldn’t have completed this journey without you!
To my Trojan Family, Cohort 2. We did this together! Your support has been incredible,
and your spirit has been infectious. I look up to all of you!
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
5
ABSTRACT
While parent involvement has been a topic of study for years, there continues to be a steady
decline at the elementary school level, despite decades of research that confirms parent
involvement is directly related to academic success. This mixed-methods study utilizes the Clark
and Estes’ gap analysis framework to explore the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
needs that are required to be implemented to increase parent participation at High Desert
Elementary by 50% utilizing innovative technology resources, also known as ICT. Analysis of
data collected from surveys, one-on-one interviews, observations, and artifacts revealed that
parents need effective and consistent communication, access to resources using technology,
activities that provide parent choice, access to workshops designed to increase self-efficacy, and
additional parental involvement opportunities and resources that focus on innovation. Lastly, to
address these knowledge, motivational, and organizational needs, it will be necessary to design
effective solutions that may disrupt the current culture of the school and may be unconventional.
It is essential that all solutions are designed and planned in collaboration with parents.
Keywords: parent involvement, innovation, innovative, ICT, technology, collaboration
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
6
Table of Contents
Dedication 2
Acknowledgments 3
Abstract 5
List of Tables 10
List of Figures 11
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 12
Introduction to the Problem of Practice 12
Organizational Context and Mission 13
Organizational Performance Need 17
Related Literature 18
Importance of the Organizational Innovation 19
Organizational Performance Goals 21
Purpose of the Project and Questions 22
Description of Stakeholder Groups 23
Stakeholder’s Performance Goals 24
Stakeholder Group for the Study 25
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 25
Organization of the Study 26
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 27
Parental Involvement 27
Factors Influencing Parental Involvement 27
Basic Tenets of Parent Participation 27
Positive associated outcomes and effects on school-aged children. 27
Negative factors. 28
Influences on Parent Participation: Possible Causes of the Decline 28
Increasing Parent Participation 30
Promoting individual parent participation inside the classroom. 30
Increasing parent participation school-wide. 31
Utilizing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Increase Parent
Participation 31
The Gap Analytic Conceptual Framework (Clark & Estes, 2008) 32
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences 34
Knowledge and Skills 34
Knowledge influences. 34
Declarative knowledge influence. 35
Procedural knowledge influence. 36
Metacognitive influence. 36
Motivation 38
Utility value. 38
Influences on parents. 39
Self-Efficacy. 39
Influences on parents. 39
Organizational Influences 41
Cultural theory. 42
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
7
Cultural setting. 44
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and
Motivation, and the Organizational Context 48
Conclusion 51
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 52
Purpose of the Project and Questions 52
Conceptual and Methodological Approach 53
Participating Stakeholders 54
Survey Sampling Criterion and Rationale 54
Criterion one. 54
Criterion two. 54
Criterion three. 55
Survey Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale 55
Interview Sampling Criterion and Rationale 56
Criterion one. 56
Criterion two. 56
Criterion three. 56
Criterion four. 56
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale 56
Observation Sampling Criterion and Rationale 58
Criterion one. 58
Criterion two. 58
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale 58
Data Analysis 59
Data Collection and Instrumentation 59
Surveys 59
Interviews 61
Observations 63
Documents and Artifacts 64
Data Analysis 65
Credibility and Trustworthiness 66
Validity and Reliability 67
Ethics 69
Limitations and Delimitations 71
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS 73
Participating Stakeholders 75
Results 76
Knowledge Results 76
Knowledge Needed to Increase Parental Involvement at High Desert Elementary 76
Understanding the Demographics of the School Community 77
Enrollment Information 81
Current Communication Methods and Parent Involvement 83
Parents Utilize Technology 86
Obstacles That Hinder Parental Involvement at High Desert Elementary 87
Welcoming Environment 88
Communication 89
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
8
Time Commitment 90
Motivation Results 91
Utility Value Amongst Parents 91
Building Self-Efficacy 93
Organizational Results 95
Cultural Theory 95
Cultural Setting 98
Conclusion 103
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS 106
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences 106
Knowledge Influences 107
Knowledge Recommendations 108
Declarative knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. 112
Procedural knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. 114
Metacognitive knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. 115
Motivation Recommendations 116
Introduction. 116
Utility Value. 118
Self-efficacy. 120
Organization Recommendations 122
Cultural settings. 125
Cultural models. 126
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 127
Implementation and Evaluation Framework 127
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations 128
Level Four: Results and Leading Indicators 129
Level Three: Behavior 130
Critical behaviors. 130
Required drivers. 131
Organizational support. 132
Level Two: Learning 132
Learning goals. 132
Program. 133
Components of learning. 135
Level One: Reaction 136
Evaluation Tools 137
Program implementation. . 137
Level one. 138
Level two. 138
Delayed period after program implementation. 139
Data Analysis and Reporting 141
Level four. 141
Challenges 142
Future Research 143
Current Implementation and Priorities 144
Conclusion 145
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
9
REFERENCES 147
APPENDIX A 155
APPENDIX B 159
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
10
List of Tables
Table 1.1 High Desert Elementary Mission and Goal 24
Table 2.1 Assumed Knowledge Influences 37
Table 2.2 Assumed Motivation Influences 41
Table 2.3 Assumed Organizational Influences 46
Table 2.4 Summary of Assumed Needs for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational
Issues 47
Table 5.1 Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 108
Table 5.2 Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations 116
Table 5.3. Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations 122
Table 5.4 Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 129
Table 5.5 Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 130
Table 5.6 Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 131
Table 5.7 Components of Learning for the Program. 135
Table 5.8 Components to Measure Reactions to the Program. 136
Table 5.9 Level One Sample Items on the Course Evaluation Survey 138
Table 5.10 Sample Items for Forum Questions and Discussion Topics 138
Table 5.11 Level Two Sample Evaluation Items 139
Table 5.12 Delayed Evaluation Sample Survey Items 140
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
11
List of Figures
Figure 2.1. Possible Influences on Parental Involvement 49
Figure 4.1. Age Demographics 78
Figure 4.2. Ethnicity Demographics 79
Figure 4.3. Education Level Demographics 79
Figure 4.4. Income Demographics 80
Figure 4.5. Communication Method Survey Questions 84
Figure 4.6. Technology platform survey question and responses. 97
Figure 4.7. Video and Tutorial Survey Question. 100
Figure 4.8. Blog survey question results. 101
Figure 4.9. Technology training survey question responses. 102
Figure 4.10. Technology Training Selected by Interest Survey Question 103
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
12
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction to the Problem of Practice
Decades of research have suggested that parental involvement is a key factor leading to
academic achievement and contributes to significant positive outcomes in elementary school-
aged children (Eccles & Harold, 1993; Hill & Taylor, 2004). A study completed by Henderson
and Berla (1994) found that parental involvement is a significant predictor of student success. It
also produces positive effects on children (Eccles & Harold, 1993). Peña (2010), further
suggested that a child’s academic success or lack thereof, hinges on parental support and interest.
Regular parental involvement promotes positive relationships, raises test scores, aids in academic
competence, increases participation among students, and instills the idea that education is
important (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). It also promotes positive behavior in students,
increases class attendance (Chen & Gregory, 2010), contributes to positive psychological
development (Peña, 2010), fosters self-regulation, increases self-efficacy, and aids students in
achieving greater proficiency in reading comprehension (Banerjee, Harrell, & Johnson, 2011).
Additionally, current research has indicated greater parent participation leads to increased
student retention rates (Chen & Gregory, 2010), a decrease in academic failure, a reduction in
dropout rates (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005), and fewer negative behaviors (Peña, 2010).
Children of parents who are intentionally involved in their child’s educational endeavors
outperform children whose parents are not involved (Peña, 2010).
Although numerous studies indicate that parental involvement is a predictor of student
success (Henderson & Berla, 1994), there continues to be a steady decline in parental
involvement at the elementary level (Colombo, 2006; Jeynes, 2005). Parents are becoming less
and less involved. This is attributed to increasing financial responsibility, work obligations, and
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
13
family dynamics. The outlook becomes increasingly grim as parental involvement drastically
declines further at the middle and high school levels (Greenwood & Hickman, 1991; Hill &
Taylor, 2004). Decreasing parental involvement presents a significant problem for student
learning. As learning and educational standards become increasingly more stringent, parents are
less involved and are often unaware of their child’s academic progress. Therefore, the lack of
parental involvement contributes to academic failure, increased dropout rates, and promotes
more negative behaviors amongst students (Peña, 2010).
Organizational Context and Mission
High Desert Elementary (pseudonym) is a public elementary school in the northwestern
region of the United States. High Desert Elementary is considered a large school for the area,
given the average total of students in attendance. The state’s average number of students in
attendance in an elementary school is 338 (Graphiq, 2017). As of the 2017-2018 school year,
486 students were enrolled at High Desert Elementary, which represents 329 families. High
Desert Elementary follows a traditional school calendar providing educational instruction to
children in Kindergarten through sixth grade, typically ranging between five and twelve years of
age (Graphiq, 2017). Of those students enrolled at High Desert Elementary, 13% were
designated as English Learners and 10% were identified as students with disabilities. The school
provides services to children with various disabilities, including Autism, specific learning
disabilities, and other health impairments. The school is considered racially diverse compared to
the average state demographics. The data summary for student demographics identify 0.4% of
students as African American, 1.4% American Indian, 0.4% Asian, 28.6% Latino, and 66.9%
White. Within the school there are 24 educators and 35 support staff, including the principal and
counselor, which are dedicated to meeting the needs of the student body.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
14
High Desert Elementary’s mission statement states: “High Desert Elementary has high
expectations for all learners, creates and supports a positive educational atmosphere, collaborates
with students, parents, and staff, and is a safe learning environment” (High Desert Elementary
Student Handbook, 2016, p.3). This is in step with the school’s vision that states, High Desert
Elementary’s goal is to “create a community of learning and leadership” (High Desert
Elementary Student Handbook, 2016, p. 3). To fulfill their vision of creating a community of
learners, High Desert Elementary established a Title One School-Wide Compact that defined
student, parent, and teacher responsibilities. The compact outlines clear guidelines for the
responsibilities of each party involved in the learning process. The compact defines the staff as
committed to providing:
• a safe and caring environment,
• to teach and reinforce essential concepts and skills,
• to be aware of the individual needs of a student,
• to establish high expectations for learning and behavior, and
• to regularly communicate with students and their parents about their progress and
their successes (High Desert Elementary Student Handbook, 2016, p.6).
It is the responsibility of the school to provide a learning environment that embraces the
unique attributes of each child and empowers the staff and the parents in the community to take
an active role in the education of all students. However, parent participation is limited. Most
students are either provided with transportation to school by bus, are dropped off, or walk to
school by themselves. Many parents work full-time, making parent participation difficult. To
address the need for increased parent involvement, the School Involvement Plan was drafted to
increase parental participation. However, with parents rarely coming to the school, it has not
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
15
proven very effective. The plan currently outlines eleven ways to increase participation. They
are:
1. Provide parents with the student handbook annually.
2. Hold an annual meeting to inform parents of the Title One participation
and requirements.
3. Hold an annual open house during back-to-school night to learn about
curriculum and technology-based programs/platforms like Read Naturally,
Scratch, ClassDojo, Google Classroom, etc.
4. Annually provide parents with the school-parent compact.
5. Distribute to parents an explanation of the curriculum in use at the school
and the assessment measures used to gauge student learning.
6. Involve parents in a Parent Action Committee that meets regularly to
implement school planning.
7. Provide regularly scheduled Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings.
8. Implement programs, activities, and trainings for parents in subjects such
as literacy, math, career, and science nights.
9. Keep the website updated.
10. Hold parent-teacher conferences twice per year.
11. One certified staff member will serve as a parent facilitator (Parent
Involvement Plan, 2016)
Previous to the 2017-2018 school year, High Desert Elementary had been in flux.
Administration was new, many of the staff members were new, and many changes were being
implemented to create cohesiveness and collaboration. It opened the doors for new programs
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
16
and a fresh start. Several training programs were implemented to unite the staff and develop
communication and collaboration. The first was the introduction of a college-based mentor
program for the teachers at the school, which facilitated the implementation of Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) into daily lesson plans and instruction. It also
required teachers to record videos of themselves teaching lessons to evaluate with other teachers.
This program provided two professors from a nearby state university, who collaborated with
teachers in changing the instructional focus of High Desert Elementary School. It opened up
new possibilities in the classroom and on the school campus, as High Desert Elementary worked
toward becoming one of the first recognized STEM elementary schools in the state.
The second training opportunity was offered based on a staff survey, called the
Organizational Health Inventory (OHI), administered by the School District in January of 2017.
The survey, based on responses from the school staff, revealed that High Desert Elementary
scored low in the areas of problem solving, cohesiveness, and morale. This training provided an
opportunity to assess the current procedures and programs of the school. The training
encouraged the staff to look at how the school functioned as a whole and how to better involve
the staff in creating a more positive learning environment. It provided time for evaluation of
current programs and collaboration on how to solve current school problems and needs.
Therefore, it was the perfect time to evaluate parent involvement and how to provide
opportunities to collaborate with parents. Since STEM became a focus of the school, it was
important to consider how technology could be fully implemented and utilized to include more
parents and increase parent involvement.
As a teacher new to the district, I was afforded the ability to observe how the school
functioned as an organization, how parents were currently included in the education process,
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
17
how decisions were made and policies were implemented, as well as how technology was being
utilized to meet current instructional standards. After teaching at a large urban, highly
progressive school district in Southern California, it became evident that this semi-rural school
district was simple, yet had a genuine desire to meet the needs of all students. This was evident
the first time I walked through the doors of the district office and did not need to be issued a pass
or obtain security clearance. High Desert Elementary School portrayed the same simple, but
genuine atmosphere. The school had access to technology and even had an existing computer
lab, but wasn’t currently using it to connect with parents or student learning outcomes. The
website was very simple, and was not individualized to meet the needs of the school community.
It was maintained by the district office and only provided key elements for parents to access. I
knew that with my experience in an extremely diverse urban school district and my background
using technology for parent workshops, I would be able to incorporate that in my current
organization, to increase parent involvement. The organizational performance need was birthed
out of my initial observations of the school and my previous experiences while teaching in
Southern California, in addition to the organizations’ current defined performance goals.
Organizational Performance Need
To fulfill its mission goal of creating a welcoming, safe, and collaborative learning
environment that includes the students, the staff, the parents, and the community, it is essential
for High Desert Elementary to provide effective and innovative opportunities for parental
involvement. Failure to do so will hinder High Desert Elementary from fulfilling their mission,
may contribute to lower student academic performance, and may increase student misbehaviors.
Therefore, High Desert Elementary needs to determine additional opportunities that would
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
18
increase parental involvement. High Desert Elementary also needs to identify innovative ways
technology could also be utilized to increase parental involvement.
Related Literature
Numerous studies have suggested that regular parental involvement is a key factor in the
academic success of children (Colombo, 2006; Eccles & Harold, 1993; Henderson & Berla,
1994; Hill & Taylor, 2004; Jeynes, 2005; Peña, 2010). Regular parental involvement encourages
positive relationships, increases participation, improves student attendance, improves student
self-efficacy, and promotes academic proficiency (Banerjee, Harrell, & Johnson, 2011; Chen &
Gregory, 2010; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). This is especially true for socio-economically
disadvantaged children or English Language learners (Turney & Kao, 2009).
Despite decades of research that indicates the positive effects parental involvement has
on students and academic achievement, there continues to be a steady decline in parental
involvement at the elementary school level (Colombo 2006; Greenwood & Hickman, 1991;
Jeynes, 2005; Taylor, 2004). At the middle and high school level, parent participation is almost
non-existent (Greenwood & Hickman, 1991; Hill & Taylor, 2004). Studies have also shown that
students whose parents are actively involved have higher test scores (Hoover-Dempsey et al.,
2005). Higher academic performance of students is attributed to parental involvement (Peña,
2010).
Current research has stated that increasing parental involvement requires educators to be
acutely aware of the factors or barriers that may prevent parents from becoming involved (Hill &
Taylor, 2004; Turney & Kao, 2009). It has also suggested that this challenge can be addressed
and overcome by providing support and implementing salient strategies that are in alignment
with current research and trends. This should include innovative and fresh ideas to reach a
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
19
technologically savvy generation. Additionally, educators should implement collaboration,
successful practices, parent workshops, and other non-traditional programs that aim to increase
parent participation (D’Angelo & Adler, 1991; Fredericks & Rasinski, 1990; Greenwood &
Hickman, 1991; Johnson, 1977; Mauch, 1969; Ortega & Ramirez, 2002; Peña, 2010).
Importance of the Organizational Innovation
The problem related to the decline of parental involvement in the elementary school
setting is important to address for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, parental support is
directly linked to student achievement (Colombo, 2006; Eccles & Harold, 1993; Henderson &
Berla, 1994; Hill & Taylor, 2004; Jeynes, 2005; Peña, 2010). Parents should become involved in
the learning process and take an active role in their child’s educational endeavors to ensure their
child’s success (Hill & Taylor, 2004). Parents who are involved communicate that education is
important and necessary and act as role models for all students positively influencing their own
child’s view of education (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). Most importantly, the children of
parents who are intentionally involved in their child’s educational endeavors outperform those
children whose parents are not involved (Peña, 2010). These findings indicate a need to change
how parents are involved in their child’s education.
When addressing the decline in parental involvement at High Desert Elementary, it is
important to implement an innovative solution that directly involves parents in the education
process. In the context of the school and the location, innovative suggests something new for the
school and the community it serves. The solution should strongly consider parental needs and
suggestions in the design process. The effort should attempt to provide parents with information
about current educational standards, opportunities for academic support, access to technological
resources and technology training, as well as facilitated training sessions that address the current
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
20
academic needs of the students. This solution will provide parents with the tools and strategies
needed to assist their child with homework and address academic struggles. Making these
resources readily available has the potential to provide parents with accessible teacher support,
while increasing their self-esteem and providing research-based data regarding the importance of
parental involvement. An innovative solution for High Desert Elementary would be to provide
training sessions for parents and a skill review for students through a technology-based platform.
However, actual needs are based on data collected through surveys and parent interviews. This
proposed solution has the potential to increase parental involvement, educate parents, provide
academic support for students, encourage greater academic achievement, and serve as a model
for other schools to implement. Success is measured based on student and parent participation
and ultimately, through academic growth.
A continued lack of parental involvement may suggest that the current plan for increasing
parent participation is unwarranted (Beale, 1985; Epstein, 2009). Research conducted by
Greenwood and Hickman (1991) suggest that High Desert Elementary’s current plan for parental
involvement may directly contribute to the decline of parents involved and as a result, widen the
achievement gap. Ultimately, the lack of parental involvement could contribute to academic
failure, higher retention rates, increased dropout rates, and negative behaviors (Hoover-Dempsey
et al., 2005; Peña, 2010). At High Desert Elementary, this means students may remain
significantly behind their grade-level peers and that parents are not recognized or utilized as
assets in their children’s education. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the plan frequently to
ensure that intended goals are being met.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
21
Organizational Performance Goals
In 2016-2017, High Desert Elementary adopted a “Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP).”
This plan provided an overview for how the organization planned to fulfill the District’s vision
of obtaining, “Student achievement through a culture that empowers, instruction that engages
and technology that enables” (D91, 2016). To realize this vision, the District has identified three
goals for all students. The goals are: proficiency in reading, proficiency in math, and college or
career readiness for all students (D91, 2016). To achieve these goals, the District has identified
strategies that are required to be implemented district-wide. They include: teaching students
using a rigorous and relevant core curriculum, utilizing a literacy intervention program,
implementing a literacy design collaborative, creating college and career readiness frameworks
for students in grades 6-12, providing students with career and college readiness mentors and
advisors, and providing support through the Advanced Opportunities Program (AOP). These
goals are monitored through the district’s defined Metrics and Measures, which are included in
the CIP. The three district defined focus areas are literacy, numeracy, and college and career
readiness. The Metrics and Measures illustrate growth and success of students, by determining
the percentage of students testing at proficiency in each of the identified goals in each grade level
(D91, 2016).
Currently, the summarized goals do not focus on parental involvement as an influencing
or key factor in a students’ academic success. However, the outline detailed goal for college and
career suggests that parents are to be provided with feedback about student progress and any
need for intervention services through written communication. This communication asks for
parental input on creating a plan and additionally supplies parents with strategies to use at home.
The career and college readiness frameworks offer information and support to parents and
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
22
students on how to meet the identified multi-grade standards. The main goal is to provide
support for all students in attaining college and career readiness. This goal, paired with High
Desert Elementary’s Parent Involvement Plan, are aimed at increasing parent participation at the
elementary school level.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs analysis in the areas of knowledge,
skill, motivation, and organizational resources necessary to increase parental involvement by
50% school-wide. Initially, High Desert Elementary did not identify a measurable outcome;
however, after meeting with the principal, it was determined that it would be necessary to
measure growth and progress. The analysis began by generating a list of possible needs
indicated by data obtained from parent interviews and surveys. The data was then systematically
examined to determine the actual, validated needs. While a complete needs analysis would focus
on all stakeholders, for practical purposes parents of students attending High Desert Elementary
are the stakeholders focused on in this analysis. The following questions guided the study:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs necessary to increase
parental involvement at the elementary school level?
2. What are the recommended knowledge, motivational, and organizational solutions to
those needs and what are obstacles that may hinder parental involvement?
3. How can information and communications technology (ICT) be incorporated and utilized
in an innovative way to increase parental involvement?
4. How will progress toward the goal be monitored and evaluated?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
23
Description of Stakeholder Groups
High Desert Elementary has five main stakeholder groups. They are the school district,
the administrative staff (principal), the teaching staff (consisting of teachers and support staff),
the parents, and the students. Each of the stakeholders have a direct impact on the students and
their academic outcomes. The school district determines school policies that are to be
implemented by the administration at each school site. Often times, this may be due to their
current budget or immediate concerns directly related to the student outcomes. The district is
also responsible for the allocation of resources and providing support to each school site.
High Desert Elementary has only one administrator, the school principal. The principal
provides direction for the school, implements district goals and educational programs,
coordinates parent involvement opportunities, and initiates changes determined necessary based
on district adoptions, decisions, and district policies. The principal ensures that the staff follows
district policies and procedures, implements instructional strategies and curriculum inside the
classroom, and provides instructional support for all students.
The teachers and support staff are an integral component in parental involvement, as they
are directly involved with the students and the parents. Currently, High Desert Elementary has
twenty-four teachers. Each teacher has the responsibility to educate students, collaborate with
other teachers, and connect with parents. A Leadership team comprised of teachers help to make
decisions for the school. They represent all grade levels and act as the voice for the entire staff.
They determine immediate needs and provide direction for setting goals and determining how to
achieve the goals.
The parents are the primary stakeholder group because they are the focus of the study.
They are the group that drives the current goal to increase parent participation. The parents
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
24
influence the change process by supporting or rejecting proposed implemented changes by the
school and the district. Their opinions and voices are heard during Parent Teacher Organization
meetings (PTO), as well as at district meetings. If parents feel that the proposed changes are not
beneficial for the students, they have the ability to voice their concerns. If a decision remains
questionable, parents may appeal to the school district, which will investigate and determine if
the changes being proposed will be beneficial or detrimental to the students. The last stakeholder
group is the students of High Desert Elementary.
The students are the stakeholder group that are most important and are directly impacted
by all district and school wide decisions. Ultimately, it is beneficial for all stakeholder groups to
be working together in a collaboratively for the benefit of all students. According to Denning,
this type of interactive leadership works with others, builds on personal integrity, views all
individuals as helping to provide leadership and direction, and understands how to utilize a
variety of narrative patterns to achieve a goal (Denning, 2005). By connecting with the
stakeholders on a more personal level, it will help to create the change that is needed.
Stakeholder’s Performance Goals
Table 1.1
High Desert Elementary Mission and Goal
Organizational Mission
The mission of High Desert Elementary is to foster a “community of learning and leadership”
(Student Handbook, 2016, p. 3).
Organizational Global Goal
By June 2020, High Desert Elementary will increase parent involvement by 50%.
Stakeholder Goal
Parents: By December 2018, High Desert Elementary parents will participate in interviews and
surveys to determine how to increase parental involvement through ICT.
High Desert Elementary Teaching Staff/Academic Leadership Team: By June 2018, the High
Desert Elementary Teaching Staff/Academic Leadership Team will evaluate interview and survey
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
25
data for the purpose of developing parent workshop trainings, involvement opportunities,
technology-based platforms and resources to increase parental involvement based on collected data.
Administrator: By August 2018, the administrator will facilitate a beginning of the year meeting to
distribute current parent involvement opportunities to parents.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
The parents of High Desert Elementary are the primary stakeholders for the study.
Parents were selected because they are the group that the High Desert Elementary’s goal desires
to increase participation from. This group is comprised of parents of elementary school-aged
children from kindergarten through sixth grade. Parents at High Desert Elementary represent a
diverse ethnic background, with the populations identifying as Native American, Latino, African
American, Asian, and Caucasian. To achieve the goal of increasing parental involvement 50%
by the year 2020, the identified stakeholders must identify and devise a plan that will help to
achieve that goal based on collected data from the study.
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
The gap analysis model introduced by Clark and Estes’ (2008) is a systematic, analytical
approach that helps to clarify organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual
performance level and the preferred performance level within an organization. This model was
adapted for the needs analysis as the conceptual framework and is also utilized as the
methodological framework. This is a mixed methods case study utilizing descriptive statistics.
Postulated knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs were produced based on personal
knowledge and related literature. The validation of needs was acquired using surveys,
interviews, a literature review, and content analysis. Research-based solutions are recommended
and evaluated comprehensively.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
26
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One supplies the reader with key
concepts and terminology frequently used in discussions about the lack of parental involvement
in the educational setting. The organization’s mission, goals, and stakeholders, as well as the
fundamental concepts of gap analysis is introduced to determine needs. Chapter Two provides a
review of salient literature encompassing the breadth of the study. Topics addressed include: the
lack of parental involvement at the elementary school level, causes for concern, the obstructions
or hindrances described by parents, the connection between academic achievement and parental
involvement, supports and interventions to increase parental involvement, communications and
technologies impact on parental involvement, preparing and planning to increase parental
involvement at the elementary school level, the risks and the benefits associated with
implementing a program to increase parental involvement, as well as the policies, and funding.
Chapter Three specifies the presumed needs for this study, as well as methodology regarding the
selection of participants, data collection, and analysis. Chapter Four contains the assessed and
analyzed data and results. In Chapter Five, solutions that address current needs are identified
based on collected data and supporting literature. Chapter Five also provides suggestions for
closing the performance gap, strategies for implementation, and an evaluation plan for the
proposed solutions.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
27
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Parental Involvement
Chapter Two provides a review of the literature which addresses the reasons and factors
used to investigate possible links to the assumed causes of the knowledge and skills,
motivational, and organizational performance gaps that lead to decreased parent participation in
elementary school-aged children. This chapter is divided into three major sections. The first
section briefly defines and discusses tenets of parent participation and the associated outcomes or
effects on the student. The second section looks at the potential influences for declining parent
participation at the elementary school level. The chapter concludes with recommendations for
increasing and promoting parental participation in elementary schools.
Factors Influencing Parental Involvement
The Basic Tenets of Parent Participation
The literature on parental involvement is extensive and proposes numerous ways for
parents and educators to bridge the gap in education. Epstein (2009), suggested that this can be
accomplished through openly inviting parents into the classroom and by utilizing parent
workshops, or by providing volunteer opportunities which allow parents and teachers the
opportunity to work side by side.
Positive associated outcomes and effects on elementary school-aged children.
Research conducted by Aisha (2009), indicated that parents and the home element impact a
student’s academic success just as much as the teacher at school. Hill and Taylor (2004),
suggested that students have greater academic success when their parents are involved in the
learning process (Epstein & Salinas, 2004). Parental involvement is also shown to increase a
student’s self-esteem, attendance, and academic achievement. It helps to increase a student’s
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
28
cognitive development and adds to creating a partnership in education between home and school
(Epstein & Sheldon, 2006; Goodman, Sutton & Harkavay, 1995). Other positive social
implications of increased parental involvement include students building positive relationships,
improving behavior (Banerjee, Harrell, & Johnson, 2011; Chen & Gregory, 2010; Greenwood &
Hickman, 1991; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005), and promoting mutual respect between students
and the teacher, and the teacher and the parents (Durisic & Bunijevac, 2017; Goodman et al.,
1995). This information helps to destroy misconceptions that parents may have about being
involved in their child’s education (Colombo, 2006).
Negative factors. There are many negative assumptions as to why parents are not
involved. Hill & Taylor (2004), as well as Greenwood and Hickman (1991), suggested that
parent involvement declines as students enter middle school and is nearly non-existent in high-
school. Additional research collected by Greenwood and Hickman (1991), stated that many
teachers believe that parents simply do not care and therefore have no interest in becoming
involved. Hill and Taylor (2004), further suggested that the separation between home and school
is growing larger and that fewer parents are attending meetings and activities at school because
they have other obligations that require their attention (Lee & Bowen, 2006).
Influences on Parent Participation: Possible Causes of the Decline
The decline of parent participation is extremely disconcerting. Research has revealed
that the decline can be attributed to social, cultural, or socio-economic factors. Turney and Kao
(2009), concluded that several social factors influence parent participation. Many factors stem
from parents not understanding how to help students or their own lack of skills required to help
students. Carpenter et al. (2016), also suggested that parent participation may be declining
because there a fewer or limited opportunities for parents to become involved. This may be true
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
29
due to the current push for academic rigor and less arts or crafts. According to Hill and Taylor
(2004), the decline in parent volunteers could be due to teachers simply not knowing how to
incorporate parental help in the classroom.
There are also several cultural aspects to consider regarding the decline in parent
participation. Colombo (2006), attributed a decline in parent involvement due to language
barriers. A parents’ inability to communicate with the teachers or the school prevents them from
becoming involved in their child’s education. When parents are English Language Learners and
may not be fluent in English, or speak in broken English, they may be uncomfortable and could
feel incapable of helping. Their lack of language knowledge makes them feel as though they are
not capable of helping in anyway (Colombo, 2006). Another cultural aspect is that some parents
feel that their child’s education should be left to the experts. They have a high regard and
respect for teachers and feel that they should not interfere or question their authority (Greenwood
& Hickman, 1991).
Lastly, we should consider the socio-economic limitations that are associated with a
decline in parental involvement. Nuñez, et al. (2017), stated that being involved at school is time
consuming. This is difficult because as the cost of living continues to rise, parents must meet the
associated economic demands. Many parents work full-time, hold multiple jobs, or take on
extended hours and overtime to meet their family’s financial needs. For parents, who are part of
a one-income household, or a single parent it can be even more challenging. Time is limited for
those who work and finding a time to participate in school functions or activities may not be
possible or extremely limited (Lee & Bowen, 2006). For parents with socio-economic
limitations, becoming involved may not be worth their time or effort (Gonzalez-DeHass &
Willems, 2003).
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
30
Increasing Parent Participation
To increase parental involvement, teachers must act as a catalyst for change. Teachers
can contribute to increased parent participation by finding ways to include parents inside the
classroom and by providing opportunities for involvement school-wide.
Promoting individual parent participation inside the classroom. Teachers can
promote parent participation inside the classroom by increasing their effort to include parents
regularly. Hill and Taylor (2004), suggested various ways that this can be accomplished. One
way is for teachers to reach out to parents about opportunities to get involved inside the
classroom. Additionally, teachers can make an effort to get to know a students’ parents which
fosters a personal relationship with them. A personal relationship allows parents to feel more
comfortable with their child’s teacher and may contribute to increased participation. When
teachers establish a personal relationship with parents, they diminish the isolation that exists
between home and school (Hill & Taylor, 2004). The establishment of communication patterns
allows teachers to communicate needs and expectations to parents more effectively (Hill &
Taylor, 2004). Graham-Clay (2005) concluded that open communication allows teachers to keep
parents informed of classroom activities, routines, expectations, homework assignments, and
important events happening at school. Ortega and Ramirez (2002), found that open
communication and positive relationships provide parents with an opportunity to ask questions
and seek help for their child without feeling uneasy or intrusive. Harold and Eccles (1993),
further suggested that educating parents on why they should become involved in their child’s
education and teaching them how to help with homework is an effective way to increase parent
participation (Flynn, 2007). Educating parents is helpful as some parents do not know or
understand the benefits associated with being involved (Epstein, 2009).
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
31
Increasing parent participation school-wide. To increase parent involvement school-
wide, educators need to address parent concerns in order to ensure that parents feel welcome to
volunteer. It is important for schools to foster positive relationships with parents. Hill and
Taylor (2004), suggested that schools should connect with families and foster meaningful
relationships between school and home. They also suggested that each school should strive to
maintain an inviting environment and foster open communication and positive dialogue with
parents. This can be accomplished by ensuring that the staff is approachable and available, and
that parents are offered multiple, varied opportunities to get involved (Epstein, 2009; Hill &
Taylor, 2004). Another way to increase school-wide parent participation is to communicate with
parents in different formats, such as electronic methods, paper, or by phone in the family’s home
language (Hill & Taylor, 2004). This would include all important resources for the parents.
These resources may include: calendars, newsletters, or phone calls that provide parents with a
listing of events or volunteer opportunities being held at the school (Graham-Clay, 2005). Other
involvement opportunities for parents include workshops that are designed to specifically
address the parents’ educational concerns. These types of workshops offer parents tangible
resources like graphic organizers or make and take activities that assist the parent in promoting
student learning (Fredericks & Rasinski, 1990; Peña, 2010).
Utilizing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Increase Parent
Participation
ICT has become a staple in the lives of people in the 21
st
century. People have come to
rely on it for communication and information. So how can ICT be used to increase parent
participation in the elementary school setting? Olmstead (2013) suggested that implementing
current emerging technologies are beneficial to increasing parent participation because they
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
32
engage parents. School websites offer current and timely information for parents about events or
other resources that are important to communicate (Olmstead, 2013). Teachers provide access to
online textbooks, educational resources, and learning games that engage students and enhance
learning (Olmstead, 2013). The question is, what kind of ICT would engage parents and increase
parent participation in the academic realm? Finding ways to incorporate and maximize ICT to
increase parent participation, eliminate the conflicts of working parents, foster open
communication, provide educational resources, and provide a forum for parents to participate in
the learning process has the potential to engage parents and increase parent participation
(Olmstead, 2013).
The Gap Analytic Conceptual Framework (Clark & Estes, 2008)
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework can be utilized to address the lack of
parental involvement at the elementary school level by analyzing the gaps and identifying the
possible barriers which keep parents from becoming involved in their child’s education. The
framework provides a research-based method for determining how learning may impact an
individual’s knowledge, motivation, and organization (KMO). This is important because an
individual’s “beliefs and perceptions are critical for diagnosing gaps” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p.
43). Gap analysis is implemented to determine if all stakeholders have the three essential
components necessary for achieving goals. For this study, gap analysis is implemented for the
purpose of diagnosing to what degree any lack of parental involvement is due to knowledge and
skills, motivation, or organizational barriers. Knowledge refers to whether an individual, a
group, or a team have the necessary knowledge or skills required to complete a task or attain a
goal (Clark & Estes, 2008). An individual’s desire to complete a task, or the mental effort they
put forth or invest to reach a goal is defined as motivation (Clark & Estes, 2008). The
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
33
organization is defined by the resources available or the lack of, the processes in place that guide
the organization, and barriers that may exist due to the operation of the organization that hinder
the ability to reach goals (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Gap analysis is an analytic process that is composed of three essential components:
knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational barriers (Clark & Estes, 2008). Krathwohl
(2002) referred to Bloom’s taxonomy, which identifies four classifications of knowledge and
defines them in terms of a framework that represents a cumulative hierarchy. The four
classifications, or levels of the structure of knowledge, are factual, conceptual, procedural, and
metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Grossman and Salas (2011) defined motivation as “the
process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward
attaining a goal” (p. 109). Motivation plays a crucial role in helping stakeholders to reach their
determined goals (Mayer, 2011), while providing purpose and direction (Pintrich, 2003). The
organizational component of the gap analysis addresses an organization’s policies, practice
procedures, and resources and how they may impede an organization’s ability to achieve a
desired goal (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
This literature review facilitates an analysis of the knowledge and motivational influences
applicable to the attainment of the organizational goal identified by High Desert Elementary
regarding parental involvement. Parental involvement is a significant predictor of student
success (Colombo, 2006; Henderson & Berla, 1994) and provides additional positive effects on
students (Eccles & Harold, 1993). This issue is vital to address, as there is a consistent decline in
parental involvement at the elementary school level (Jeynes, 2005).
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
34
The organizational goal states that High Desert Elementary will increase parental
involvement 50% by June of 2020. To achieve High Desert Elementary’s overall organizational
goal there are several issues that need to be addressed, including personal barriers held by
parents and key factors that contribute to their limited involvement (Colombo, 2006; Lee &
Bowen, 2006; Peña, 2010; Suizzo, 2007; Turney & Kao, 2009). This is accomplished through
the identified stakeholder goals. Stakeholders are individuals or groups that affect or are affected
by the organization’s goals (Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997). The stakeholders identified as the
focus of this study are the parents of students attending High Desert Elementary.
The first stakeholder goal focuses on the parent stakeholder group. It states that High
Desert Elementary parents will participate in surveys and interviews, to determine how High
Desert Elementary can increase parental involvement and develop an action plan. The second
goal states that the administrator will facilitate and plan Parent Action Committee Meetings that
address parental involvement, aide in developing parent, and plan for additional involvement
opportunities. The last goal is designed for the leadership team of High Desert Elementary. The
goal is that the teachers will develop and implement a plan of action to increase parent
involvement in order to achieve our organizational goal. The plan is based on a needs
assessment determined by the results of parent surveys and interviews. The literature review
examines salient literature reflecting the type of knowledge influences necessary for and required
of the core stakeholders.
Knowledge influences. The social cognitive learning theory, stated that an individual’s
cognition, environment, and behavior all contribute to the learning experience. Learning is
achieved through observation, modeling, and effective practice (Denler et al., 2006). As
individuals acquire new knowledge it is important to understand how to effectively transfer new
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
35
learning into working memory. Krathwohl (2002) referred to Bloom’s Taxonomy, which
defined four classifications of knowledge within the framework of a cumulative hierarchy.
Learners must master one level before moving on to the next, more complex level (Krathwohl,
2002). The four classifications, or levels of the structure of knowledge are identified as factual,
conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Classifications of knowledge are
important to consider when designing any new learning opportunities. The ability to
systematically acquire knowledge and skills, paired with the opportunity to transfer the
knowledge learned to a variety of disciplines will increase job or work performance (Grossman
& Salas, 2011). How knowledge is attained is imperative to consider when addressing parental
concerns and designing any training or workshops in order for the training to be effective.
Declarative knowledge influence. Declarative knowledge is comprised of two main
tenets, factual knowledge and conceptual knowledge. Factual knowledge is comprised of the
most basic or fundamental facts and details that a learner must know within a specific domain
(Krathwohl, 2002; Redding, 2014). This can include recalling facts, details, events, or
principles. Conceptual knowledge builds upon the basic facts or details and aids in making
connections or building relationships in a very purposeful manner. This includes classification,
categorization, generalization, theory, models, and structures (Krathwohl, 2002). Teachers at
High Desert Elementary need to list benefits of parental involvement and state the evidence
presented by scholarly research. Teachers also need to identify factual reasons as to why parents
are not involved at the school site and be able to summarize the facts from parent questionnaires
and interviews. Instructional strategies should include review, making connections, asking
questions, and providing opportunities for practice (Redding, 2014). These strategies allow
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
36
teachers the opportunity to connect the research to their own data, making it more meaningful
and therefore more readily stored and easily accessed (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006).
Procedural knowledge influence. Procedural knowledge refers to task completion, steps
in a process, the inquiry process, and specific methods, techniques, procedures, skills, or
algorithms used to accomplish an identified goal (Krathwohl, 2002). Teachers can design
effective learning sequences by asking parents to respond to questions about their specific
learning needs, as well as by developing training that would address their own personal barriers
which keep them from becoming involved (Shraw & Lehman, 2009). Identified parental barriers
and needs are important to consider when determining the resources and skills parents may need
to acquire to increase parental involvement at High Desert Elementary. Providing a step-by-step
learning process that includes an introduction to the concepts being learned, a discussion with
questions and answers, and an opportunity to practice learned skills in a sequential manner is
most beneficial (D’Angelo & Adler, 1991). Research has suggested that teachers include current
learning topics and strategies in their own classroom setting to facilitate optimal learning (Ortega
& Ramirez, 2002). Through tailored workshops teachers are able to increase parent
participation, provide common goals, and unite teachers and parents in the learning process
(Peña, 2010).
Metacognitive influence. Metacognition facilitates learning. It is the cognitive process
that allows learners to think about what they are thinking and combines both memory and
attention to increase knowledge (Baker, 2009). It also requires learners to have awareness and
understanding of their own knowledge and cognition, to facilitate learning (Krathwohl, 2002).
This includes developing self-awareness, increasing capacity, and utilizing metacognitive
learning strategies to increase learning (Baker, 2009). Strategies for increasing metacognition
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
37
include: teaching effective goal-setting strategies, providing guidance in self-assessment,
debriefing the thinking process, modeling talking out loud, discussion, and collaboration (Baker,
2009). Metacognitive strategies are imperative for teachers to engage in when reflecting on why
parents may not be involved at school. Educators need to discuss why parents are not more
involved and the barriers which keep them from becoming involved. Educators need to develop
a personal awareness of their own contribution to the lack of parental involvement and set goals
that would potentially contribute to increasing parental involvement by 50%. Educators need to
consider that their own attitude, skills, and knowledge may hinder parental involvement. It is
equally important that educators are welcoming towards parents so that they do not feel alienated
or discouraged from becoming involved (Green et al., 2007; Greenwood & Hickman, 1991).
Metacognition and inclusive strategies are important factors to consider and reflect upon.
Table 2.1
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type Knowledge Influence Assessment
Parents require knowledge of
the importance of increasing
parental involvement and the
effect it has on students.
Factual Parents are asked to provide at
least two reasons as to why their
involvement is important.
Parents need to know about
available participation
opportunities and the skills that
each opportunity requires so
that they can become involved
in the classroom, at school, and
at home.
Conceptual Parents are asked to determine
their skill level in relation to each
opportunity and create an
involvement plan including ways
that they can commit to
participate.
Parents need to know how to
help students and implement
different skills or strategies with
students.
Procedural Teachers will design parent
workshops/trainings that will
require parents to demonstrate the
skill step-by-step with a partner.
Teachers will provide ICT
opportunities for parents to utilize
as resources.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
38
Parents need to reflect on their
own reasons for not being
involved in the classroom or
within the school and determine
what is hindering them from
becoming more involved.
Metacognitive Parents are asked to reflect on
and determine reasons for their
own lack of parental
involvement and provide
suggestions for increasing
involvement.
Motivation
This section of the literature review focuses on motivation. Grossman and Salas (2011)
defined motivation as “the process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and
persistence of effort toward attaining a goal” (p. 109). Mayer (2011) stated that motivation plays
a crucial role in helping stakeholders reach their determined goals. Motivation provides purpose
and direction (Pintrich, 2003). Two motivational theories that contribute to meeting High Desert
Elementary’s organizational goals are utility value and self-efficacy.
Utility value. The basic tenet of utility value is that learning is enhanced when there is
value associated with the task and it contributes to a desired end-result (Eccles, 2006). The value
of the expected outcome influences whether you want to do complete the task. Rueda (2011)
said that, “utility value refers to how useful one believes a task or activity is for achieving some
future goal” (p. 42). Therefore, it is important to discuss the importance and value associated
with increasing parental involvement and the potential positive outcomes it may have on
achieving future goals (Pintrich, 2003). Eccles (2006) suggested that this can be accomplished
by providing choices in training activities, increasing confidence, high-interest materials and
activities, and successful completion of tasks. At High Desert Elementary in order to improve
parent participation it is crucial to ask parents about their needs surrounding parental
involvement, what skills or strategies they would like to learn, and how comfortable they are
using and incorporating technology. The use of carefully designed interviews and surveys
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
39
provides insight into how parents are involved and how they plan to engage in future endeavors
(Pintrich, 2003). Beneficial questions for parents to answer include: How do they feel about
participating at school? What additional resources or skills would be helpful to learn? How
comfortable are they with using current technology? How much time they are willing to devote
to school involvement? In what ways, can technology be utilized to facilitate future parent
involvement opportunities? These questions help determine the value and importance parents
place on involvement and parent workshop/trainings in order to enhance their motivation
(Pintrich, 2003).
Influences on parents. Parents need to find value in becoming involved in their child’s
education. They also need to see the value of attending parent workshops, trainings, and
utilizing technology to access tutoring sessions or videos online that would help parents with
understanding concepts being taught in class. They need to understand the benefits to struggling
students and the subsequent positive effects their participation has on students. Eccles (2006)
stated that by understanding the benefits of doing something, it has the potential to influence an
individual’s motivation and enthusiasm when engaging in a task. It is important to have parents
indicate what is important to them and how they feel about a task. Providing parents with
feedback opportunities promotes positive value and interest.
Self-efficacy. A positive motivator is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy may initiate an
individual’s desire to complete a task and their internal desire to engage in persistent mental
effort (Pajares, 2006). This is determined by an individual’s belief in his or her own abilities or
capacity for completing a task (Bandura, 2000). Self-efficacy impacts what an individual
chooses to engage in, persist in, and whether or not an individual accomplishes the task (Pajares,
2006). Self-efficacy is centered on two main questions, “Can I complete the task?” and “Do I
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
40
want to engage in the task?” (Eccles, 2006). If an individual believes that they can complete the
task, then they have a much greater chance of completing it successfully (Eccles, 2009).
Individuals who lack self-efficacy will be less motivated and exert less effort when completing
tasks (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, it is imperative to incorporate strategies in the parent
workshops and trainings that would foster self-efficacy. Providing clear expectations and
directions for completing a task, setting short concrete goals, observing models, and providing
immediate feedback all foster self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Each of the aspects listed are
important for developing self-directed learners.
Influences on parents. As parents increase their involvement in the education process, it
is important to discuss and understand how parents view their own abilities. There are a variety
of reasons why parents do not get involved. Parents may not feel welcome or comfortable being
involved at school because of their communication skills and lack of ability to speak English
(Colombo, 2006). Some parents feel ill-equipped, uneducated, and feel that they lack sufficient
knowledge and skills to help students learn (Greenwood & Hickman, 1991). It is also important
to note that some parents report feeling disrespected and treated unequally (Knoph & Swick,
2007; Mauch, 1969). Still, others may desire to help their children learn, but may not know
where to begin (Epstein, 2009; Mauch, 1969). However, the predominate factor may be that
parents are not offered opportunities to get involved or offered help in assisting with their child’s
education because it can be time-consuming, frustrating, and demanding (Beale, 1985; Lee &
Bowen, 2006). However, research indicates that offering workshops and trainings to parents and
bridging the gap between school and home is effective, necessary, and will contribute to an
increase in self-efficacy and motivation (Beale, 1985; Epstein, 2009). Understanding the
influences and how they impact motivation and self-efficacy, is essential when implementing a
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
41
plan, in which parents must rely on their own skills and knowledge to teach students. Parents
must gain confidence and demonstrate a mastery in what they will be taught in trainings or
workshops and with any resources they may access online. Self-efficacy is developed through
consistent modeling, practice, and feedback (Pajares, 2006).
Table 2.2
Assumed Motivation Influences
Assumed Motivation Influences Motivational Influence Assessment
Utility Value: Parents need to find the
value in parent workshops, trainings, and
utilizing technology to facilitate learning
and parental involvement.
Interview: How do you feel about helping students? How
much time are you willing to invest as a parent? Do you
feel that this is important? How do you feel about
attending workshops and trainings? How would you rate
your current ability to help your child read? How would
you rate your current ability to use a computer? Would
you attend workshops or trainings held online?
Survey: Focus on the importance and value of
implementing increased technology use to bolster parent
participation. Such as: I enjoy teaching others how to
help students? I enjoy watching students improve in
reading and math? I am excited when students make
academic progress? I am concerned about my struggling
students and wish I could do more to help them. I feel
that my struggling students would benefit from online
tutoring sessions or online instructional videos. I feel that
it would be beneficial to engage in a forum that would
allow me to ask questions and discuss
Self-Efficacy: Parents need to feel better
equipped to teach struggling students after
attending workshops, trainings, and
viewing online content. They need to feel
confident in their own skills and their own
efforts (especially skills learned in training
workshops or through the technology
platform).
Likert scale: Provide specific questions aimed at what
they are comfortable teaching or implementing, the skills
they feel that they have mastered, what they feel that they
will need additional instruction in, how comfortable they
are with different subjects, which subjects they prefer, and
their confidence in using technology to aide in teaching
specific content.
Organizational Influences
The third and final section of the literature review is dedicated to organizational
influences that hinder an organization in reaching their performance goals. Not reaching
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
42
organizational goals can be attributed to ineffective work practices, processes, or a lack of
material resources (Clark & Estes, 2008). The culture of an organization can further complicate
goal attainment because the culture determines how individuals “work together” to get the “job
done” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 107). The idea of cultural theory and school influences are
discussed in greater depth in the sections that follow.
Cultural theory. Every organization develops its own culture over time. Clark and Estes
(2008) defined the notion of culture as a set of “core values, goals, beliefs, emotions, and
processes learned as people develop over time in our family and in our work environments” (p.
108). This idea of culture can be consciously or unconsciously operating in the environment, in
groups, or in our individual actions or decisions that we make (Clark & Estes, 2008). Therefore,
it is important for all organizations to determine cultural factors that may impede their ability to
reach performance goals, align with organizational policies and procedures, or diminish their
ability to communicate effectively. Cultural influences that impact an organization’s ability to
change are: resistance, distrust, and loss of control.
Individuals demonstrate resistance when they are comfortable with doing things the way
they have always been done and are unwilling to change existing procedures and programs. The
resistance is caused by potential threats to an individual’s beliefs, values, or goals. Therefore, it
is important to focus on what people need and how meeting their needs can be accomplished
(Clark & Estes, 2008). Cultural resistance is evident at High Desert Elementary. The school
staff and personnel are used to doing things in accordance with the policies and principles
embedded within the culture of the school. This is evidenced by the traditional parent teacher
conferences, back to school night, and other activities offered at school. Anything that may
challenge the traditional model, habits, or climate fosters resistance because it “isn’t how things
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
43
are done.” One way to address the resistance is to provide the staff and parents with a survey to
determine possible causes for resistance and to determine alternative ways to implement change
based on survey feedback. Left unaddressed, an organization may encounter challenges that are
often highly ingrained and tend to surface in daily attitudes and behaviors (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Schein (2010) added that one may not be able to decipher or make sense of the underlying
assumptions (Schein, 2010).
Additional cultural barriers or influences that impact change are distrust and a fear of
losing control. Often, these influences are deeply embedded within the culture of an
organization due to previous personal experiences or individual reputations. How individuals
communicate the goals, procedures, and policies of an organization, while attempting to maintain
central control are indicators of cultural barriers. Cultural barriers and influences are also
demonstrated within the nature of hierarchy defined by Schneider, Brief, and Guzzo (1996). The
nature of hierarchy is defined as decisions made solely by management that benefit or distinguish
them from others. The inability to take into consideration ideas from parents or other
stakeholders threaten central control and limit parental involvement due to lack of trust in the
organization. This distrust is exaggerated when one person is making decisions for the group
without taking into consideration the culture, value, or beliefs of a subgroup. This is evident at
High Desert Elementary when the school district makes decisions for a school without consulting
other stakeholders or limits parental involvement due to the fear that they may impede current
goals, or that they may lose control. A recent staff survey suggested that High Desert
Elementary needed to develop the culture of our school. The district determined that we would
participate in training to develop trust amongst the staff. A committee was organized to
participate and lead the school in this initiative. However, it has not decreased the fear or loss of
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44
control. It has just displaced it. This idea of change or the loss of control can lead to anxiety
when the basic culture of an organization is challenged (Schein, 2010). Unexpected changes
foster distrust amongst the staff and other stakeholders because of conflict with personal or group
beliefs and values (Schein, 2010). Two ways to address the problem are to conduct a parent
survey asking specific questions about why parents are not involved, and to interview the
administrator regarding personal beliefs on parental involvement. A survey reveals personal
beliefs and barriers that could potentially interfere with implemented changes at the school. The
rooted behavior or culture would need to change before a new system or culture can be
implemented (Hendry, 1996).
Cultural setting. People learn to survive, adapt, and learn based on daily interactions
with their environment (Schein, 2010). They simply do what they have learned to do. However,
this can impact the changes needed for a cultural setting to change. Negative influences
embedded into the culture of an organization can impact change. Two specific influences that
impact change is when individuals are overextended or overwhelmed by current responsibilities,
and a lack of individuals interested in taking on leadership roles. These both affect the
possibility for positive change beneficial for student outcomes in an educational setting.
However, when teachers or parents feel overextended it interferes with their ability to take on
additional responsibilities or leadership regardless of how it may benefit students. This is due to
the extra work, energy, and additional responsibilities that it may incur (Hendry, 1996). Hendry
(1996) also suggested that too many programs or initiatives can interfere with learning and
“dissipate energy and attention” (p. 631). This can leave parents and teachers feeling
overwhelmed and unwilling to participate in additional programs that would prove to be
beneficial for student learning outcomes. Trying to do too much at one time is not beneficial.
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Instead Hendry (1996) suggested, that to relieve “initiative-itis” you need to reduce what you are
doing by reflecting on what is working and what is not working and develop a simple focus
(p.631). The evaluation of survey results is one way to understand parents’ and teachers’ feelings
and perceptions about which programs are beneficial, and which programs have aided student
achievement. Conducting a survey allows individuals to express their root feelings about being
overwhelmed and find out their beliefs about the benefits of current programs and initiatives.
Collected data helps to reduce or eliminate current programs that do not strive to meet the goals
of the school (Langley et al., 2009).
Additionally, a lack of willingness to take on leadership roles is an underlying problem
related to negative cultural setting influences. An organizational leader must be sensitive to an
individual’s ability and desire to learn and develop leadership skills and opportunities (Hendry,
1996). This is developed through ongoing support and commitment. Senge (1990), stated that
effective leadership is built on the understanding of the culture of an organization, as well as the
ability to acquire new skills, thinking, mental models, and tools by designing and providing
meaningful practice. However, Agocs (1997) suggested that people resist change because they
fear that they do not have the necessary skills to become leaders of change. To better understand
why parents or teachers at High Desert Elementary have not assumed a leadership role, it is
important to understand their feelings regarding leadership opportunities and to gain insight
about their current interests. Table 2.3 is useful in identifying and addressing the assumed
influences that may have a direct effect on the organization. Determining if parents at High
Desert Elementary would use ICT to interact with teachers or to provide educational support for
students will aide in identifying parents that may be willing to lead other parents to use ICT
resources available to them. Qualities and values associated with the culture of an organization
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46
impact an individual’s desire to engage in leadership opportunities and invest their time,
resources, and efforts (Berger, 2014). Understanding the assumed needs of the parents will help
to help to gain insight on meeting those needs and implementing change. Table 2.4 provides a
summary of the assumed needs of knowledge, motivation and the organization.
Table 2.3
Assumed Organizational Influences
Assumed Organizational Influences
Organizational Influence Assessment
Cultural Model Influence 1:
There is a general resistance by parents
and teachers to changing existing
procedures and programs.
Survey or interview questions that help to determine the
parent’s resistance to change or observations of resistance
to change.
Cultural Model Influence 2:
There is a culture of distrust and a fear of
the loss of control between the district and
the parents, hindering parental
involvement and parents’ ability to
become involved.
Survey or interview questions about how the parents feel
about becoming involved and what keeps them from
becoming involved. Ask questions regarding
technological opportunities parents could become
involved in.
Cultural Setting Influence 1:
Parents and teachers are overwhelmed by
current responsibilities and the
implementation of current programs,
which interfere with investing in other
beneficial programs or taking on new
responsibilities.
Survey or interview questions about current
responsibilities and implemented programs and their
importance or perceived benefit for students, and how to
relieve current feelings of being overwhelmed. Ask what
ICT programs would be beneficial for them.
Cultural Setting Influence 2:
There is a lack of parents and staff willing
to take on leadership roles to implement
additional programs or interventions that
would be beneficial for students.
Survey or interview questions that would help to
determine or identify future leaders and the support they
would need to take on such responsibilities. Questions
that would identify which parents may lead the way in
using ICT.
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Table 2.4
Summary of Assumed Needs for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Issues
Assumed Needs
Sources Knowledge Motivation Organization
Learning and
Motivation
Theory
• Why parents are not
involved.
• The effects that
parental
involvement has on
students.
• Ways to increase
parental
involvement.
• How to design and
implement
opportunities for
parents to become
involved.
• What is hindering
parent involvement.
• Increase Utility
Value for Parents
in utilizing ICT.
• Increase parent’s
self-efficacy in
order to increase
parent
participation.
• To understand why
teachers and parents
are /may be resistant
to change.
• Identify the reason for
distrust and fear
between parents and
the school.
• Evaluate current
programs at school
and determine their
benefit.
• Explore additional
beneficial programs or
ICT resources that
would increase parent
participation.
• Increase staff
participation in using
ICT resources.
Assumed Needs
Sources Knowledge
Motivation
Organization
Related
Literature
• Social, cultural,
socio-economic
reasons parents are
not involved.
• Current ICT’s that
would benefit
parents and meet
their needs.
• Find the value of
parent
participation.
• See the value of
ICT resources that
will benefit parents.
• Increased parent
participation for
increased academic
achievement.
• ICT to engage parents.
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48
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation, and
the Organizational Context
A conceptual framework is typically a visual representation of a researcher’s thoughts
regarding a proposed theory. A conceptual framework is intended to clarify or explain the
relationship amongst concepts, possible limitations, and implications for the study (Maxwell,
2013). Additionally, Merriam and Tisdell (2016) suggested that the framework defines the
problem of the study and helps to define key questions that are intended to guide the study based
on the supporting literature. The visual graphic is known as a “conceptual map.” The
conceptual map identifies the sample of individuals to be studied, the possible influences on the
individuals, which help to determine the questions to ask participants, and other outside agents or
factors that may impact the study (Maxwell, 2016). Each presented concept independently
influences the sample to be studied in a negative or positive manner. However, identified
influences also reveal relationships between each other, and may help to provide a deeper
understanding of the complex phenomenon being studied (Maxwell, 2016). The gap analysis
framework presented by Clark and Estes (2008) is utilized in this study to identify the possible
gaps associated with parental involvement at the elementary school level, and how to increase
parental involvement. This framework identifies the knowledge, motivational, and
organizational factors that may impact the decline in parental involvement (Clark & Estes,
2008).
The decline of parental involvement has been widely studied. Research has revealed that
there are several influences that impact why parents are not involved. Some of the influencing
factors that prevent parental involvement are education, knowledge, motivation, socio-economic,
and personal reasons (Beale, 1985; Colombo, 2006; Greenwood & Hickman, 1991; Mauch,
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
49
1969; Schein, 2010; Schneider et al., 1996). These influences can work in isolation or in unison
to prevent parents from becoming more involved in their child’s education. Literature has
revealed that these influences do not work alone but can be paired with additional outside
influences that may also determine whether parents become involved in any capacity. These
additional influences could be due to knowledge, motivation, or organizational barriers (Clark &
Estes, 2008).
Figure 2.1. Possible Influences on Parental Involvement
The concept map in Figure 2.1 identifies the possible influences on parents of elementary
school age children and the relationship the possible influences have on the decline of parental
involvement. The sample of the study is identified as parents of elementary school aged
children. The literature review suggested that the decline in parental involvement is due to
several influences including: education, cultural, social, personal, socio-economic factors, and
ICT. ICT has the ability to impact all other influences as well. Hill and Taylor, (2004)
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50
suggested that there are positive effects on the student when parents are involved in their child’s
education. However, there can be negative effects when parents are not involved. When looking
at the concept map, this reveals a greater question. If parents understood that their child would
perform better in school and that there are other positive effects, including influencing barriers,
what could keep them from becoming involved? This is important to analyze. To better
understand this phenomenon, the Clark and Estes Gap Analysis Framework is implemented for
this study. As previously mentioned, the framework contains three essential components:
knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational barriers. Each of these components are
necessary to examine when diagnosing gaps and attempting to achieve goals (Clark & Estes,
2008). Knowledge and skills define four categories of knowledge: factual, conceptual,
procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). This idea of knowledge influences an
individual’s persistence and effort when pursuing a goal (Krathwohl, 2002). What knowledge is
needed by the parents and what else would the organization and the staff need to know about the
parents to promote parental involvement? It is important to determine why parents are not
involved and how to best help parents become involved. Motivation is another critical
component in reaching and maintaining goals (Mayer, 2011).
Two motivational theories explored in this study include utility value and self-efficacy. It
is important to examine how each of these theories influence parental involvement. Without a
purpose and a feeling of self-worth parents may keep themselves from becoming involved.
Parents may feel like they do not have the skills required to help or may not have been presented
with opportunities to become involved. It is essential to determine how to increase parental
motivation. Lastly, there may be organizational barriers influencing parental involvement.
Organizational influences may be the deep-rooted culture of the organization or the cultural
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51
setting (Schein, 2010). It is important to determine how to change each of these factors and
encourage individuals within an organization to reflect on current practices and determine ways
in which the organization could change and grow to include a more welcoming environment and
develop leadership opportunities that may increase parental involvement. This helps to
determine additional factors or influences that should be considered or revealed for future
implications and study.
Conclusion
This chapter reviewed literature that addressed the reasons and factors used to investigate
the assumed causes of the knowledge, skills, motivation, and organizational performance gaps
that have possibly contributed to decreased parent participation in elementary school aged
children, specifically at High Desert Elementary. The first section defined and discussed tenets
of parent participation and the outcomes or effects it has on students. It was followed by a
discussion of the potential influences leading to declining parent participation and concluded
with recommendations and suggestions to increase and promote parental participation through
ICT resources. Increasing parent participation at High Desert Elementary will help achieve High
Desert Elementary’s overall organizational goals. Goal achievement is imperative because
parental involvement has positive effects on students and is a significant predictor of student
success (Henderson & Berla, 1994; Hill & Taylor, 2004). It is therefore, the purpose of this
study to determine how information and communications technology can be used to increase
parent participation at the elementary school level.
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52
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing and impacting parental
involvement at High Desert Elementary. According to the mission statement of the school and
the current goals, parent involvement is a determined area of focus. High Desert Elementary’s
current performance goal is to increase parental involvement 50% by June 2020. However,
parental involvement continues to steadily decline at the elementary school level (Colombo,
2006; Jeynes, 2005).
This study uses purposeful sampling for collecting data on the primary stakeholder group.
It is important to study underlying factors, influences, and assumptions to propose solutions that
may help to increase parental involvement at the elementary school level. Otherwise, High
Desert Elementary may continue to have a decline in parental involvement, which has the
potential to negatively impact student performance and outcomes (Colombo, 2006; Eccles &
Harold, 1993; Henderson & Berla,1994; Hill & Taylor, 2004; Jeynes, 2005; 1994; Peña, 2010).
The following questions guided this study:
1. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs necessary to increase
parental involvement at the elementary school level?
2. What are the recommended knowledgeable, motivational, and organizational solutions to
those needs and what are the obstacles that may hinder parental involvement?
3. How can technology be incorporated and utilized in an innovative way to increase
parental involvement?
4. How will progress toward the goal be monitored and evaluated?
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Conceptual and Methodological Approach
This study utilizes the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis framework to address the lack
of parental involvement at the elementary school level. This framework uses a research-based
method for determining how knowledge, motivation, and organization impact an individual’s
learning. The gap analysis is utilized to diagnose whether the lack of parental involvement is
due to knowledge and skills, motivation, or organizational barriers.
Gap analysis is an analytic process that requires analyzing an organization’s goals and
current achievements to determine the performance gaps. This allows an organization to define
the causes or root causes of those gaps and identify possible solutions that could be implemented
to close the gap. At the end of the cycle the process is evaluated to determine the effectiveness
of the solutions implemented. If needed the cycle repeats. It is important to understand how
knowledge, motivation, and the organizational components may impact or impede an
organization’s ability to achieve a desired goal (Clark & Estes, 2008).
This study utilized a mixed methods approach to gather and analyze data, which is both
qualitative and quantitative in nature. It includes qualitative methods such as interviews,
observations, artifacts and documents (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015), as well as, quantitative
methods, which include surveys, demographic information and other measured outcomes that are
analyzed for thematic coding during data analysis. These instruments provide meaningful data
that is essential for triangulation. Triangulation ensures that data collected is cross-referenced
(Maxwell, 2013). It also provides researchers with the ability to provide the study with greater
trustworthiness and accountability. These methods of data collection were best suited to this
study because they allowed the researcher to better understand the findings, as well as reduce any
biases they may have (Maxwell, 2013).
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Participating Stakeholders
The primary stakeholders of focus in this study were the parents of High Desert
Elementary. However, there are multiple stakeholders who directly impact, influence, and
benefit from achieving the organizational goal. The stakeholder groups consist of students,
parents, school staff (consisting of teachers and support staff), and the administration. The
administration is represented by the principal, who is the leader of the school site and will help to
either initiate or hinder parent involvement. The teachers and support staff also play an integral
role in parental involvement, as they are the gateways for communication with parents and are
key players in creating opportunities for parental involvement. The most important group is the
students. Each of the stakeholders have a direct impact on the students. The students are the
stakeholder group that is impacted most by achieving the current goals. Lastly, the parents are
the primary focus because they are the group in which we wish to increase participation.
Criteria for selecting the parents was important to include because of the different ethnic,
cultural, and economic backgrounds represented at the school site and the impact parents have on
student academic outcomes. Therefore, it is important to determine why parental involvement is
declining and whether it is due to influences or factors that are personal, socio-economic,
cultural, social, or educational in nature before looking at additional influences such as
knowledge, motivation, or organizational barriers.
Survey Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion one. The participant must be a parent of a student attending High Desert
Elementary.
Criterion two. The participant must have had a child in attendance at High Desert
Elementary for one year.
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55
Criterion three. The parent must complete the survey online.
Survey Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
Survey Sampling is an effective way to collect data in a short amount of time. It allows
the practitioner to gather a large amount of data (Fink, 2013). A survey was administered at the
school site during parent teacher conferences. Several Chrome Books were available for parents
to engage in the survey. All computers were located in the main hallway, a central location,
where signs were clearly posted. Parents were also provided a letter in English and Spanish that
explained the purpose of the survey and instructions on how to access the survey. A direct link
to the survey was also provided on the letter, allowing parents to participate in the survey with
their phone or over the Internet at a later time. The link provided direct access to the survey on
Google Forms. Google Forms is an online tool designed by Google, which allows individuals to
create a variety of surveys for free. It also analyzes the responses from each question and
displays the results in graphics and provides a spreadsheet with collected individual responses
for each question.
Additionally, parents were encouraged to participate in the survey through school email
and ClassDojo (Class Twist, 2017), a mobile communication application for the classroom that
provides teachers, parents, and students with the ability to share information, monitor behavior,
and post upcoming events instantly. A link was also provided to parents in each of the electronic
messages that were sent to parents. Participation in the survey was completely voluntary and did
not require them to participate just because they attended the school event. This allowed parents
to use the technology provided through the school to complete the survey. Administering the
survey was important for obtaining data on how the parents feel about participating in parental
involvement opportunities, the obstacles that prevent them from participating, needs, and desires
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
56
for future participation opportunities. It was necessary to gain the perspective of parents who
were familiar with the school and had students attending at least one year. This was to ensure
that answers were based on interactions and opportunities that they had experienced or been
offered to participate in and not on their assumptions. This was important since the surveys were
administered in the first third of the new school year. Any parent who participated in the survey
that did not meet the sampling criteria was not included in the results. This resulted in only two
parent responses being excluded from the survey data.
Interview Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion one. The participant must be a parent of a student attending High Desert
Elementary.
Criterion two. The parent must have had a child in attendance at High Desert
Elementary for 1 year.
Criterion three. Parents must be willing to participate in an interview.
Criterion four. Parents need to agree to be interviewed for 30 minutes.
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The sampling strategy utilized for interviews was purposeful in nature. Parents were
selected from a school roster that listed students who have attended High Desert Elementary for
over one year. From the list of students, parents were selected randomly. Parents selected to
participate in the interviews agreed to be available for an interview that would last approximately
30 minutes. They also were required to agree to participate in the study. If parents selected
declined to participate, additional parents were selected at random. After the selection of
parents, a semi-structured interview approach was implemented. Several questions were pre-
determined, but additional follow-up questions were included to gain a full perspective and
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57
understanding of their feelings surrounding parental involvement and the possibility of utilizing
ICT.
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), interviews should provide a discussion that
produces data to further inform the study and provide “expert” opinion and answers to the
research questions. Interviews offer the opportunity for the practitioner to purposefully select
individuals to participate based on their knowledge about a topic, or responses to survey
questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Implementing a semi-structured interview approach
allows for specific open-ended questions to be asked and creates a conversational atmosphere in
which follow up or clarifying questions, that are not planned, can also be poised (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Parent interviews are important to conduct because they help to identify and
create further opportunities for parental involvement using technology. It is also important
because parents must help drive the solution. A semi-structured interview approach also allows
for the identification of follow up questions that may need to be asked for clarification in the
moment, instead of arranging for an additional meeting (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Being
effective with time management is critical, since interviews can be time consuming.
The data collected was utilized to determine the parents’ ability to feel welcomed and
supported when participating at the school site. It was also important to determine the parent’s
overall feelings about being involved at the school and how their perceptions about the school
environment may have impacted their involvement. The interview sought to provide the answers
to the parents’ perceptions about current parental involvement, their personal involvement in
attending or engaging in opportunities provided by the school site, questions related to their
specific needs and interests, and how technology use can increase parent involvement. For this
specific interview, it was most beneficial to utilize a semi-structured interview approach. This
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58
approach began with a list of structured questions that helped guide the interview, but also
allowed flexibility in how questions were worded and ask additional follow up questions if they
were required to gain additional information on the topic (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This
approach is effective when specific information is required of the participant (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). The data gathered is vital to guide the future participation of the parents and to
determine if ICT will help increase parent involvement.
Observation Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion one. The participant must be a parent of a child attending High Desert
Elementary.
Criterion two. The parent must be in attendance for a school event.
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
Observation sampling allows the researcher to learn about the participant behaviors and
draw inferences based on what is seen to better understand a perspective (Maxwell, 2013).
Conducting observations are important for understanding how parents participate and how they
interact with other stakeholders and technology. Parents were observed while on campus at
different campus events and planned activities. Access to parents and events was gained through
the study already being conducted. All observations were conducted in the role of the
researcher/observer. However, interactions with parents and students continued to occur due to
the nature of the events taking place. This did not interfere with data collection. It is important
to collect data on attendance, participation, and the resources provided at the events or meetings.
Additionally, by collecting artifacts from the events it was possible to note patterns in attendance
by the parents and which opportunities and events are more highly attended. As a researcher, I
had access to parents, students, and teachers daily as I am a current educator at the school site.
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59
Data Analysis
Data Collection and Instrumentation
The methods I have chosen to use to collect and analyze data for this study are surveys,
interviews, observations, documents and artifacts. I have chosen to include surveys because it
allowed gathering of data from a large sample of the parent population, without consuming a
large amount of time (Fink, 2013). It also provided a greater representation of the school’s
population, without including every parent. The interviews provided an opportunity for parents
to provide additional information and data regarding their specific knowledge, motivation, or
organizational needs with regard to parent involvement and gain additional responses to parent
technology use. Observational data was collected while conducting the interviews, at school
events, and meetings. Parents were informed of the observation taking place with a sign posted
at the entrance of the event. The data obtained included the number of parents who attended,
which grade levels parents represented, and the gender of the parent who attended the school
event or meeting. Documents or artifacts from the school events or meetings were also
collected, including sign in sheets and agendas. From these artifacts, additional data was
obtained from school records, such as what grade level the parent represented, their ethnicity, the
parent’s gender, and some economic data, such as qualifying for free or reduced lunch, based on
the name from the sign-in sheet. Data from the sign-in sheet helped to determine which events
parents attend more frequently given the topic or event type. The data provides details regarding
how parents are currently involved, and when parents are involved.
Surveys
According to Fink, “surveys are information collection methods used to describe,
compare, or explain individual and societal knowledge, feelings, values, preferences, and
behavior” (2013, p. 2). Fink (2013) stated that a survey can be effectively used to determine the
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60
evaluation of a program, whether a new program needs to be implemented, to obtain additional
information about a program currently in place, or how to guide the next steps. Surveys are just
one way to obtain data from participants though, one of the easiest instruments to implement
because they are straightforward. A survey can be on paper or online, in person, by telephone, or
by mail. It can be completed anonymously so that the participant feels less anxiety or pressure
when providing answers to sensitive questions about their feelings regarding specific topics
(Fink, 2013). Surveys provide me with pertinent data to guide my study and gain understanding
about how parents feel about participating, without making them feel uncomfortable. Surveys
also increase parent honesty due to the fact that they are collected anonymously.
The survey protocol used in my study was administered to inventory what type of
technology parents currently use, to determine if using additional technological resources will
help to increase parent participation, and the types of opportunities they prefer to engage in. This
directly relates to the research questions that are guiding the study and provide the most data in
response to those questions by including parents that represent each grade level.
The survey questions were directly connected to the conceptual framework and
determined how the stakeholders have been impacted by social, economic, and societal factors.
These factors limit parental involvement and often hinder a parent’s ability to become involved
at the school site. Therefore, determining how technology or ICT can be used increase parental
involvement is extremely beneficial. By using multiple methods of data collection, “we get
corroboration” which provides consistency and pattern matching (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña,
2014, p. 299). By triangulating the data, validity and reliability are ensured through consistent
data over multiple measures (Miles et al., 2014). The survey protocol administered in the study
was a Google Form, offered in English and Spanish. However, the Spanish survey was not
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61
accessed by any participant. The survey protocol contained 19 forced questions, as well as
Likert Scale items, multiple choice, and a free response section at the end. Limiting the number
of questions ensures that the survey was not time consuming and allows for the instrument to be
user friendly.
Interviews
Interviews were conducted with multiple parents that were purposefully selected. The
interviews provide “expert” opinions and answers to the research questions (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Parents were selected to participate by looking at school data rosters and from the
attendance sheets available during activities and events that parents attended at school. The
researcher informally invited parents to participate in the interview at the end of the school event.
The goal was to have in total, at least four parents representing the families in attendance at High
Desert Elementary. Extra care and attention were given to ensure that participants were
representative of families attending High Desert Elementary, and that the parents chosen to
participate, fairly represent the school population. Parents were identified based on the sign-in
document from the event and direct observation. Identified parents had more than one child in
attendance at the school event and children in attendance represented a different grade level.
Initially, potential participants were identified based on the sign-in sheet. The participants were
asked if they could be contacted at a later time to arrange an interview by providing their name
and contact information. Several attempts were made to select participants that would represent
gender equally. However, each prospective male parent was either unavailable due to scheduling
conflicts or was not interested in participating. One prospective participant suggested contacting
their wife to participate.
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62
After all potential participants were identified, the school data base was accessed to
determine the grade level of the student/students in attendance at High Desert Elementary, to
ensure that parent participants were selected from multiple grade levels. The data based was also
used to identify home language and ethnicity to represent the culture of the school. Data was
recorded on a spreadsheet for all participants who said they would be interested in participating
in an interview. The first participant selected based on the information collected from the data
base was a participant who identified their home language as other than English. Then,
additional parents were selected based on their enrolled child’s/children’s grade level. Parents
were purposefully selected based on providing a fair representation of all grade levels
participating in the study. Parent participants were contacted by telephone to formally invite
them to participate in the study. If prospective participants agreed to participate an interview
was scheduled for an appointment time that was convenient for them. The interviews were
conducted privately, in an empty classroom at High Desert Elementary. This location provided a
quiet atmosphere without interruptions.
Interview questions followed a semi-structured approach to ensure that the specific
identified criteria were collected, but the researcher had the opportunity to ask follow up
questions for the purpose of obtaining other important data. Implementing a semi-structured
interview approach allowed for a mixture of structured and unstructured interview questions and
consisted of a specific list of questions. There were twenty-two structured questions with
possible follow-up questions on the interview protocol. This ensured that pertinent data was
gathered from each of the participants (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Having set questions with the
possibility of identifying possible follow-up questions allowed for the opportunity to gain clarity
or a deeper understanding of a response (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Obtaining clear
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understanding from parents regarding their participation is vital because parents must be a part of
the solution. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), it is essential for parents to feel that their
insights are important and valued. All interviews were conducted in English. Parents that were
Spanish speaking were provided with access to a translator. However, the participant declined
and responded to questions in English. Protocol questions included the knowledge, motivation,
and organizational factors influencing parental involvement. Each of these questions are
valuable to pose in order to better understand the parent’s perspective and learn how their
perspective impacts their involvement at their child’s school. Learning how the parent’s
knowledge base and motivation to become more involved is impacted by their perceptions is also
essential. The interview protocol can be found in Appendix A.
Observations
Observations were conducted on campus at specific planned events. Observation
sampling allows the researcher to obtain data and draw inferences on specific observed
behaviors. Drawing these inferences is necessary to better understand the perspective of the
specific individuals being studied (Maxwell, 2013). Four observations were conducted. Since I
am an educator at the school site, I have unlimited access to events and was able to easily attend
all the observations. The planned observations included the following scheduled events:
Literacy STEM night, a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meeting, one Parent Teacher
Conferences, and one special event. These events were scheduled from August of 2017, through
February of 2018. Each observation lasted at least one hour in length and focused on how many
parents were in attendance, the gender of the parent in attendance, and the level of involvement
by each parent. I took field notes about how the parents interacted with each other, as well as the
level of activity of each parent. It was important that the field notes included descriptive details
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of the event, the setting, and the participants to ascribe meaning to the research (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). When jotting down notes I made a diagram of the setting and labeled the
individuals, as well as the time, location, and purpose (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). These actions
are beneficial because they provide the opportunity to keep track of each observation, who
spoke, and it allowed me to tally the number of interactions in which each individual engaged.
Parents were informed of all the observations taking place when they entered the event. A sign
was posted, and parents were asked to provide permission in order to participate. All parents
were provided with the opportunity to decline participating in the observation. However, none
declined.
Documents and Artifacts
Documents and artifacts are materials that are printed or other materials that may relate to
the study and provide insight into the study results (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). These can
include public records, documents, handouts, or other physical evidence (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). The types of artifacts collected were sign-in sheets and other handouts from the specific
observations conducted. The sign-in sheets provided specific data about the parents who
attended the meetings or events. The sign-in sheets allowed me to identify who attended and
cross-reference that information with important details found in the school database, such as
ethnicity, language spoken, grade level of the child the parent represents, and some economic
information based on free or reduced lunch. The information provided allowed me to identify
specific groups of parents in attendance and the events or school activities parents engage in
most. Additional artifacts collected included flyers, handouts, and bulletin boards, which address
parent involvement opportunities being offered at the school site. These are important to collect
“because of what can be learned directly from them” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 165).
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Data Analysis
Data analysis was conducted using a mixed-methods approach based on the context of
the instruments being implemented or how the data was collected. Data analysis began as data
was collected during observations. Notes were taken during the observations and interviews.
The notes included data collected about participants’ reactions, interactions, and participation.
At the end of each interview or observation analytic memos were written to provide an account
of what I was thinking or learning during data collection. It also provided the opportunity to
record my concerns or pose additional questions that related to the conceptual framework, or
questions that may need to be further clarified or addressed during an interview. To protect the
identity and confidentiality of all participants who engaged in interviews, all interview videos
were transcribed, ascribed a code, and destroyed. All data that was collected is secured inside a
safe at an off-site location. Later, coding was used to identify emerging patterns or themes in the
data that was collected from the surveys and interviews. The data was also cross-referenced to
determine the relationship between the conceptual framework and the research questions.
During the first analysis of the data, open coding was utilized. Open coding includes
defining or developing categories for data collected. Using a priori codes allowed data to be
organized and analyzed to identify possible themes and patterns. The possible themes and
patterns were further sorted into categories. This type of coding is referred to as analytical
coding. Lastly, all documents were analyzed using content analysis. Content analysis is useful
for providing descriptive information, providing insight for connecting relationships, or for
verifying hypotheses (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
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Credibility and Trustworthiness
In mixed-method studies, credibility and trustworthiness are essential to establishing the
research as true and believable (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Credibility and trustworthiness can
significantly impact the validity of a study. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) indicated that based on
the data collected, the findings must be believable. For the research to be established as credible,
the research questions must be well defined, the methodology needs to be appropriate, the
literature should be well-reviewed, the approach must be ethical and objective, and the data
needs to be collected, analyzed, and presented as concluding evidence (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). However, there are many factors that impact the credibility and trustworthiness of a
study.
Two such threats in a qualitative study are researcher bias and reactivity. Researcher bias
refers to how the researcher’s own personal values or expectations may have impacted the way
in which the research was conducted, collected, or interpreted (Maxwell, 2013). Reactivity is
when the participants in a study react to, or are influenced by, the researcher being present in the
setting (Maxwell, 2013). As much as the researcher tries to control the situation and the effect
that they have on the participants, this may impact validity by providing false results or data.
One way to counteract these potential threats is to create a checklist of strategies to employ in the
study that increase credibility (Maxwell, 2013). Some of these potential strategies include: the
researcher’s involvement at the site long-term, collection of rich data, obtaining feedback from
participants which is respondent validation, checking for flaws or negative evidence,
implementing data triangulation, using numbers and data correctly, and making comparisons
with other studies to support the validity of the data collected (Maxwell, 2013). When obtaining
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feedback, it is important to make sure it aligns with the study and provides direction to the study,
and, will not muddle it further.
Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability are needed for data to be valuable. Reliability refers to whether it
is possible to replicate the study and come up with similar data; or another example is an
individual repeating a test and scoring similarly to the first test. These examples demonstrate a
reliable test (Creswell, 2008). Validity, by definition, is whether the research is credible or
believable. There are two aspects of validity: internal validity and external validity. Internal
validity relates to the methods, procedures, or instruments used to conduct the research and
whether they measured what they were intended to measure. External validity relates to the
results of the research and whether those results can be generalized or applied beyond the study
and repeated (Creswell, 2008).
Some ways to increase reliability and validity are to ensure that the role of the researcher
has been clearly defined and that the instruments being used measure what they are intended to
measure, and that they are consistently administered in the same manner (Miles et al., 2014). It
is important that the instruments are well designed to achieve this purpose. One way to ensure
they are well designed is to test the instrument prior to the study to analyze the effectiveness of
the questions and the instrument (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This increases the effectiveness of
the final instrument utilized in the study and ensures that it is designed to measure what it is
intended to. An additional way to increase validity and reliability is to use peer review to check
for quality or any biases that may not have been addressed (Fink, 2013). The survey instrument
and interview protocol were tested several times during peer review, which provided valuable
feedback and revision of questions that were not well designed. Questions that did not benefit
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the study or measure what they were intended to measure were removed from the survey
instrument and interview protocol.
Lastly, it is important to address biases or errors that may occur in the sample or when
collecting data. When administering surveys, the researcher should collect a sample that is large
enough to reduce the sampling errors (Fink, 2013). This requires consideration when designing
an instrument that utilizes random sampling. By collecting a larger sample, the researcher
reduces sampling errors and increases the reliability and validity of the research (Fink, 2013).
The survey sample included 50 participants, which is approximately 16% of the parent
households represented. This provided a snapshot of the parent involvement at High Desert
Elementary and implication for further study. It also provided confirmation that parent
involvement is low and has room for improvement. However, increasing reliability and validity
would require a large population sample. This sampling does not allow for generalization to
other organizations, and is limited to the organization focused on in the study. However,
findings recommendations may be useful to implement at other organizations.
Researchers also increase validity and reliability by addressing all biases they may have
that are related to the study. These may include personal biases or other typical biases found in
research such as overweighting or underrepresenting data from one participant group,
interpreting events or data to mean more than it should, or using the participant’s perspective or
explanations to guide the study instead of the data (Miles et al., 2014). Therefore, it is important
to keep grounded in the study and use the research questions to guide all thinking, triangulate the
data, rely on colleagues for additional insight and guidance, and be wary of misleading or
misguidance from participants (Miles et al., 2014). Triangulation allows data to be cross
referenced and provides the researcher with the ability to identify patterns and themes from all
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the data collected from the interviews, surveys, and document collection (Creswell, 2015;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Triangulation greatly reduces bias. Triangulation will be utilized in
this study to ensure that the data collected is consistent and is fully supports the themes
identified. In other words, triangulation confirms the claims by allowing the data speak for itself.
Additionally, participants that do not provide a response or hold a different point of view should
be identified and included in the study. The non-responses are important to identify while
populating the results and when reporting the collected data (Miles et al., 2014).
Ethics
As a researcher, it is important to ensure that the study is ethically sound. I have the
responsibility to treat all participants with respect, to assure that participation is voluntary, and to
ensure that any data collected remains confidential (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). Rubin and Rubin
(2012), stated that any data pertaining to identifying criteria should be coded with pseudonyms to
protect their individual identities. All research must adhere to strict ethical guidelines, as set
forth by the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (IRB). Following the
criteria ensures that the guidelines and rules are followed with regard to participants, and the
legal rights and ensured welfare of human participants in this study (Krueger & Casey, 2009).
Before participants engaged in interviews, participants were provided with consent forms
describing the nature of the study and the extent of their involvement. Participants were
informed that participation is voluntary and that they may withdraw from the study at any time
(Rubin & Rubin, 2012). Participants were asked to sign the consent form showing that they
understand their role in the study, how the collected data will be used, and to provide their
written permission to participate in the study (Krueger & Casey, 2009). When conducting
interviews, I also obtained permission to audio or video record the sessions and subsequently
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provided transcription of the conversation and dialogue for their review to ensure that their
words were not changed or wrongly misrepresented in any way (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). I
assured the parents that all data is kept in a secure location and will not be accessed by any other
organization or person other than the researcher.
My current relationship to the organization where the study took place is in the role of a
teacher. I am new to the district and the school. I offer a fresh perspective to those who have
been working at the school site for several years and are used to doing things the way they have
always been done. As a teacher for the last 16 years, I have had the opportunity to serve a
diverse student population, in a large urban school district in southern California. This has
provided an opportunity for me to observe the decline in parent involvement at the elementary
school level. This is concerning because research has clearly proven that parent involvement has
a tremendous impact on a student’s academic success. Previous studies by Hill and Taylor
(2004) and Turney and Kao (2009), have suggested that the decline is due to cultural, economic,
or organizational factors. However, I believe that it may be in decline because we are unable to
reach the parents through the mode in which they are engaged. Serving as both a teacher and a
researcher did not interfere with my performance at school or impact how others view me.
However, providing opportunities for individuals to participate anonymously helped to alleviate
this possibility.
This study is based on an innovative design and aimed to not put any stakeholders into
any potentially negative situation. It allowed participants to speak freely and provide responses
that have guided the entire process. Participants were invited to participate in the study based on
their voluntary agreement. The parents that agreed to participate in the study have served to
provide direction for the future of the school. If they chose not to participate, another parent was
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71
asked to participate in the study as an alternate. The parents who were selected to participate in
the study were selected from a list of students who have attended the school for more than one
year. This eliminated parents from feeling coerced or obligated to participate because I am their
child’s teacher. All parent participants were selected from previously defined criteria, which
eliminated the personal obligation to participate and ensured that participation was strictly
voluntary creating a more neutral position (Glesne, 2011). Surveys were offered at the
conclusion of school events and activities. The survey was offered online, and parents did not
have any interaction with the researcher. If a paper survey was requested, the participants were
provided with an envelope to drop the survey in a designated box in the front of the school. The
box was accessed at the end of the event and opened in an isolated location. However, there
were no paper surveys distributed.
Any assumptions or biases that I may have as a researcher stem from my own personal
convictions as both a parent and an educator. While entering the field and engaging in data
collection, analysis, and reporting activities, it was important to remember that this study was not
based on why parents are not involved, but on how to engage them and increase their
involvement in innovative ways. This was a creative problem-solving process that utilized
technology to meet the mode in which parents currently communicate and interact. This helped
to eliminate or reduce the biases or assumptions that I may have held and allowed me to focus on
the purpose of the study and the data collected to answer the research questions.
Limitations and Delimitations
There are several limitations to this study. The first limitation is the influence
researchers have on the participants. Since I am a teacher at the school and have personal
relationships with the parents and the staff, it may hinder or inhibit a participant’s response or
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natural behaviors (Creswell, 2014). This could happen when being observed at school events,
participating in interviews, or when completing surveys. Additionally, participants may
provide inaccurate information, or it may cause them to behave differently (Creswell 2014).
In both the researcher and teacher role, participants may not feel comfortable providing
sensitive information for fear that I may potentially be their child’s teacher. This limits
participant responses in a manner that cannot be regulated. Lastly, this study is conducted in
a small city and results may not be able to be generalized to other geographic areas.
A delimitation of the study is assessing non-verbal cues gained through observation or
in interviews. Facial expressions allow the researcher interviewing participants, the ability to
better understand stakeholder responses through facial expressions or body movements
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This proved to be advantageous for the researcher. If another
member or researcher were to conduct the interviews, important data may be lost from not
being directly involved. Being directly involved allows the researcher the ability to collect
data first hand and eliminate the loss of such data.
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, motivational, and
organizational factors influencing and impacting parental involvement at High Desert Elementary,
using the Clark and Estes Gap Analysis framework. According to the mission statement of High
Desert Elementary and the current goals, parent involvement is a determined area of focus. The
current performance goal is to increase parental involvement by 50%. This is to be accomplished
by June 2020. However, parental involvement continues to steadily decline at the elementary
school level (Colombo, 2006; Jeynes, 2005). Therefore, it is important to study underlying factors,
influences, and assumptions to propose solutions that may help to increase parental involvement
at the elementary school level. If parental involvement continues to decline at High Desert
Elementary, it may negatively impact student performance and outcomes (Colombo, 2006; Eccles
& Harold, 1993; Henderson & Berla, 1994; Hill & Taylor, 2004; Jeynes, 2005; Peña, 2010).
The data collection for this study consisted of surveys, one-on-one interviews,
observations, and document analysis. All data was collected by the researcher to ensure that
nothing was overlooked, and that data collected was guided by the research questions. Surveys
were open to all parents of High Desert Elementary students. All parents were invited to
participate in the survey through email, ClassDojo (Class Twist, 2017), and a flyer. Any parent
that did not meet the sampling criteria was removed from the results. The survey was
administered online through Google Forms. Participants also had access to Chromebooks, a
laptop computer designed to connect to the Internet, to complete the survey. An opportunity to
complete the survey at school was provided at parent teacher conferences. Chromebooks were
located in the main hallways of the school, accompanied by an information sheet, informing
them of the purpose of the study and instructions on how to access it. Additional signs were also
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posted around the school, providing additional information about the study and the location of
the Chromebooks. To ensure that the study could be easily accessed by parents, the Google
Form was bookmarked. Parents also had the opportunity to complete the survey at home. The
survey was available on Google Forms in English and Spanish. However, only the English
survey was accessed by parents. None of the parents completed the survey in Spanish.
The sample size included at least 10% of the families attending the school. The survey
was a cross-sectional survey design that occurred only once. There were several types of
questions and formats utilized to collect the data. The questions on the survey had 19 forced
answer questions and two open-ended questions or items, that allowed participants to provide
their own responses to (Appendix A). Forced answer questions allow the researcher to easily
analyze and code the data based on the participant’s responses (Fink, 2013). The number of
items on the survey was limited to twenty-one questions. These questions directly related to the
background demographics of parents, technology use, and how parents currently use technology.
Learning about parents’ current technology use helps to determine how to increase parent
involvement through technological resources.
In addition to the surveys, a total of five one-on-one interviews were conducted. The
interview protocol contained 22 questions that allowed parents to provide individual responses
(Appendix B). Each interview was video-recorded, transcribed by the researcher, then provided
to the participant for review, which ensured accuracy of the data collected, as well as that the
participants were not misrepresented in any way. Each interview lasted approximately 30
minutes in length. After each interview was transcribed, the data was coded and analyzed.
Additional data was collected through observations at school events, where the researcher was
able to record notes and make initial connections to the research questions. At the conclusion of
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the observations, analytic memos recorded the general observations, feelings, and questions of
the researcher in regards to the observations. Lastly, an analysis of documents collected from the
school events provided data about the number of participants involved in order to better
understand parent participation at High Desert Elementary. This chapter presents the findings
for the knowledge, motivation, and organizational framework as it relates to the research
questions and the conceptual framework. Chapter Five addresses potential solutions related to
the third and fourth research questions. All findings are organized and discussed according to
KMO.
Participating Stakeholders
Parents of elementary school children attending High Desert Elementary are the primary
stakeholders in the study. However, there are multiple stakeholders who directly impact,
influence, and benefit from achieving the organizational goal. Those additional stakeholders are
the district, the administration, the teaching staff, and the students. All stakeholders heavily
impact one another.
There were a total of 50 anonymous survey participants, which is more than 10% of the
households represented. Five parents participated in one-on-one interviews for a duration of 30
minutes in length. The five participants were all female. Pseudonyms have been assigned to
protect their identity. Anna, has one child attending High Desert Elementary in third grade. Her
child has attended the school for the last two years. Gail is a mother of two children, that have
also attended High Desert Elementary for the last two years. Her children are in first grade and
fourth grade. Jenny has a third and fourth grade student attending High Desert Elementary for
the last two years. Rena’s children have attended High Desert Elementary for the last six years.
Her children are in grades two and five. Lastly, Natalie’s children have attended High Desert
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Elementary for the last seven years. Her children are currently in third grade and sixth grade.
Three observations were conducted at the school site, and lasted at least 60 minutes. Artifacts or
documents collected from school events or surveys were also analyzed to provide a deeper
understanding of how parents are involved, and how to best increase parental involvement
through ICT.
Results
Knowledge Results
Learning is achieved through observation, modeling, and effective practice (Denler,
Wolters, & Benzon, 2006). As individuals acquire new knowledge it is important to understand
how to effectively transfer new learning into working memory. Knowledge influences were
evaluated by data collected through surveys, interviews, observations, and documents.
Additional connections were made to the literature review on parental involvement which is
located in Chapter Two. Several themes emerged after the data was analyzed for evidence as it
related to the research questions. Themes included hindrances that keep parents from becoming
involved; including communication, time commitment, and technology. Additional themes
included low self-efficacy and a lack of utility value. Identifying how parents responded in
interviews and on the surveys revealed data which provided the knowledge necessary to
understand the decline in parental involvement and how to better involve parents in the future.
Knowledge Needed to Increase Parental Involvement at High Desert Elementary
In order to better understand parent involvement at High Desert Elementary, it is
important to learn more about the parents and families attending the school. The survey and the
interviews were helpful in gaining background knowledge about the parent participants’
educational and technological experiences, as well as demographic information. All three
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observations were helpful in collecting data regarding who participated in school events and how
parents were involved in those events. The assumed knowledge influences validated by the
study include parents having the knowledge of available opportunities at school and having the
knowledge of how to help students with different skills or strategies. Many parents indicated
that they would benefit with resources to help them understand concepts being taught or access
to resources online. Additionally, parents suggested that having communication for upcoming
events was important and that the use of the website was not helpful. However, they felt
ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017) was effective in providing that information. The assumed
knowledge influence that was partially validated was the importance of increasing parental
involvement and the effect it has on student success. Also partially validated is the assumed
influence based on personal parent reflection. During interviews parents commented that they
were not as involved because of work obligations. However, this needs to be further explored by
a larger sampling.
Understanding the Demographics of the School Community
The school serves a total of 329 families. When parents were presented with an
opportunity to complete the survey, 50 responses were recorded on Google Forms. Of the fifty
responses, only 6% of the parents were 25-30 years old, 60% of the parents were 31-40 years
old, and 34% of the parents were in the age range of 41-50 years old. The majority of survey
participants identified as Caucasian (90%). The other 10% identified as Hispanic (6%), Native
American (4%), and other (2%). These numbers were also fairly representative of the
interviewed parent demographics. Four of the five parents interviewed identified as Caucasian
and only one identified as Hispanic. Which is also representative of the demographics of the
entire school population. When parents were surveyed about their educational background, only
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6% of the parents surveyed indicated that they had not finished high school, and 20% have
received their high-school diploma or completed a GED. Another 14% indicated that they have
completed some college classes, 2% have attended a trade school, and 12% have an Associate
Degree. A significant percentage of parents indicated that they have a bachelor’s Degree (26%)
or a Graduate Degree (20%). The education levels of those surveyed also had a close correlation
with the parents interviewed. Two of the parents interviewed had obtained their high-school
diploma; one parent had completed an Associate Degree, one had completed a bachelor’s
Degree, and one had obtained a Master’s Degree. When asked about their annual income, 55.1%
marked that they made above $50,000, 31.7% said that they made between $20,000 and $40,000,
and 12.2% made under $20,000. The participants’ demographics are summarized in Figure 4.1-
Figure 4.4.
Age Category
Figure 4.1. Age Demographics
0%
6%
30%
30%
26%
8%
18-24
25-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
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79
Ethnic Background
Figure 4.2. Ethnicity Demographics
Highest Level of Education
Figure 4.3. Education Level Demographics
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Annual Income
Figure 4.4. Income Demographics
When the participants in the interviews were asked about employment, they each
indicated that they work outside of the home. All of them reported working while their children
were attending school. It was important for the interview participants to represent the diversity
of the school. However, it was difficult to find a male parent willing to participate in the
interviews. All five of the one-on-one interviews were conducted with female participants.
Other than gender and ethnic backgrounds, the participants selected demonstrated economic and
educational diversity. The survey results regarding parent demographics supported the diversity
of the population represented.
Three separate observations were conducted at the school, a back-to-school event (Back-
to-School Bash), literacy STEM night, and a parent teacher organization (PTO) meeting. Over
90% of all parents in attendance at the school events were female, and all of the PTO parents in
attendance were female. When comparing attendance at school functions, the least attended
event was the PTO meeting, with only 14 people in attendance, all of which were female. This is
significantly low compared to the back-to-school event in which there were 437 parents and
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students in attendance; at the literacy STEM night there were 218 parents and students in
attendance. Analysis of parent conference summary sheets indicated that a total of 456
mandatory parent teacher conferences were attended by parents in December of 2017, equal to
95.2% parent attendance. These conferences were held at night and were arranged to fit the
parent’s schedule. Every attempt was made to meet with every parent. This was left up to the
teacher to arrange with the parent. This resulted in conferences held as late as 8 p.m. The
majority of the conferences (244) were attended by only the mother, 134 were attended with both
parents, and 50 conferences were attended by the father only. The data revealed that there is
extreme diversity amongst the school population socially, economically, ethnically, and
educationally. It also revealed that the majority of school events or activities are attended by the
mothers of the elementary school children. Furthermore, a greater percentage of parents chose to
attend a social school activity/event, that was not an educational, standards-based learning
opportunity. Attendance at the Back-to-School bash was had also greater attendance than the
PTO meeting. This indicates that parent participation correlates with the kind of
activity/opportunity offered and how it may appeal to the parents. This information aided in
determining additional activities, events, or educational programs for future offerings at High
Desert Elementary.
Enrollment Information
On the survey parents were asked how many children they had attending High Desert
Elementary, 48 participants responded. There were 21 respondents that indicated they had one
child attending High Desert Elementary, 24 marked two children, two parents indicated that they
had three children in attendance at the school, and one parent said they had four children
attending the school. Parents also identified the grade levels their children were currently
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enrolled in. Of the 49 responses, eight students enrolled were kindergarteners, three were first
graders, 20 were second graders, 10 were third graders, nine were in the fourth grade, 13 were in
fifth grade, and 16 were in sixth grade. The survey response breakdown, correlated with the
parents that were interviewed. Five parents participated in one-on-one interviews. Three parents
had two children attending High Desert Elementary and two parents had one child in attendance.
Three of the participants indicated that their children had been attending the school for two years
and two indicated that their children have attended for over six years. Three of the participants
had children enrolled in third grade, two parents had children enrolled in fourth and first grades,
and one had children enrolled in second, fifth, and sixth grades. None of the interview
participants had children enrolled in kindergarten. Observation of school events and documents
collected revealed that representatives of parents from each grade level were in attendance at
school functions.
When analyzing the sign in sheets for each of the events, 75% of the students in
attendance were in grades K-third, and 25% were enrolled in upper elementary levels, grades
fourth through sixth. When the data was analyzed, the survey results revealed that both upper
and lower grades were equally represented by the parents who participated in the survey. The
data also indicated that the majority of parents have one or two children attending High Desert
Elementary, and that many of the families are newer to High Desert Elementary and have been
enrolled at the school for less than 2 years. However, there were several families who have
attended the school for over six years. The longevity of students attending one school is positive,
as it indicates that there is less transiency, which creates more opportunities for teachers and
administrators to get to know the families and build long lasting relationships. This is significant
because the research has indicated that as students get older, parents are less involved. One way
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to ensure their involvement is through relationships (Epstein & Salinas, 2004). It is essential to
build personal relationships in order to help more families become and stay involved in their
students’ education process. When parents are involved at the same school for several years it
aides in building personal relationships.
Current Communication Methods and Parent Involvement
In order to increase parent involvement at High Desert Elementary, it is important to
know and understand the current process for involving and communicating with parents. If
parents do not know how to become involved, what opportunities are available, or what events
are scheduled, it is much more difficult for them to become involved. Proper and consistent
communication avenues are essential for parent involvement.
Parents Survey results indicated that 60% of parents meet with the teacher once or twice
a year, 18% indicated that they meet monthly, 6% indicated that they meet 2-3 times per month,
and 4% indicated that they have never met their child’s teacher. Another 12% meet once a week
or more often. The majority of meetings take place after school, 76%, while 12% meet during
school. Only 2% of the meetings take place before school. All other meeting times were noted
as occurring during parent teacher conferences (10%). All parent participants indicated that they
are able to contact their child’s teacher at least 50% of the time or more, and that they generally
receive responses promptly from the teacher the same day. Most parent-teacher communication
involves clarification of homework (22 responses) or academic concerns (29 responses). Parents
indicated that they have contacted the teacher for health concerns (10 responses), legal needs
(nine responses), behavior (nine responses), and four responses indicated that they had not
contacted their child’s teacher. This directly correlated to data collected in the one-on-one
interviews. Several parents recounted meeting with the teacher for academic or behavioral
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concerns. Parents primarily communicate with their child’s teacher through email (27
responses), ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017) (44 responses), or letters (14 responses). Some
parents use the telephone (11 responses), and even fewer text (seven responses). One parent
indicated that they would prefer in person meetings, which does not represent the majority.
Figure 4.2 below provides a summary of the communication methods recorded from the survey.
Communication Methods with Teacher and School
Figure 4.5. Communication Method Survey Questions
When parents were interviewed about how they communicate with the teacher or school,
all of the parents mentioned that they regularly communicate with the teacher using ClassDojo
(Class Twist Inc., 2017). One parent, Anna responded by saying,
I love the communication. I love that I am able to message Ms. X (pseudonym)
whenever I would like to on Dojo. The worst thing is to have a person, a teacher, that
you can’t get ahold of via email. Like phone, you just can’t get ahold of them. So, it’s
nice to have that.
She continued on to say, “I don’t like the mass texts because they get lost. Emails, they go to
spam. The newsletter, the paper newsletter is horrible. It never makes it home.” Another parent,
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Jenny, agreed that paper flyers were extremely ineffective because they “never make it home.”
Parent surveys and interviews also confirmed that the preferred method of communication is
ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017) due to the availability of instant communication with
students’ teachers. During the interview, all of the parents also indicated that they are informed
of school events or activities through the ClassDojo application (Class Twist Inc., 2017).
Document collection evidenced that flyers were sent home to announce upcoming events.
However, when exploring the school’s ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017) site for High Desert
Elementary, all of the flyers collected had also been posted and sent to parents electronically.
The flyers alone may not have been an effective method for communicating with parents.
Communication methods and the use of flyers would be important to explore in a future study.
Parent interviews indicated that parents are involved at High Desert Elementary in a
variety of ways. However, all five parents interviewed reported that their involvement at High
Desert Elementary included attending school events and activities. This indicates that parent’s
knowledge of what it means to be involved is attending school events or activities, and may not
match what the school would desire from parent participation (Epstein, 2009). All of the parents
interviewed reported that they attended the “Back-to-School Bash” and three out of the five said
that they would attend or had already attended a STEM Night or Literacy Night. When parents
were asked why they chose to attend one activity over another, Jenny responded, “My son
wanted to go and meet his friends.” This indicates that parent involvement is also impacted by
the students desire to be involved and if the parent is able to attend the event/activity. Gail said,
“Honestly, it depends on our schedule. If we could, we would. If we couldn’t then…”
Observations also indicated that the attendance at events that were designed to be social and fun
and non-educational, meaning they did not have learning or standards attached to an activity, had
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the greatest attendance by High Desert Elementary families. Educational nights such as the
literacy STEM night, had fewer families and parents involved. This event was planned to be an
educational, standards based, learning opportunity. Literacy STEM night had 50% less
participants than the Back-to-School Bash. Additionally, the PTO meeting was scheduled to
plan for future events and opportunities offered at the school site. The PTO meeting had 10
parents, three staff members, and the researcher in attendance. This indicated that very few
parents are involved with planning of school activities or events and that a small percentage of
voices are determining how parents can be involved, what activities or events are offered, and
when they will be offered. Additional responses about why parents chose to attend a particular
activity, included feelings needed. Natalie responded, “When you go to back to school night,
teachers have sign ups to help in the classroom. I probably wouldn’t go in and do it on my own
otherwise, but when requested to, I was happy to.” Natalie said, “It was exciting working with
the kids and seeing them grow.” All of the parents who were interviewed also indicated that they
enjoy helping or volunteering in the classroom.
In summary, the parent responses indicated that building personal relationships and
communicating with the parents on a regular basis, increases parent participation. The data also
revealed that parents are more likely to attend activities and events if the students are interested
in attending. This is important to consider when planning future activities and events at High
Desert Elementary.
Parents Utilize Technology
The survey indicated that parents use technology on a daily basis. The largest
percentage, 40% of parents said that they use technology one to five times per day, another 12%
indicated that they use it five to 10 times per day, and 24% shared that they use technology more
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that 10 times per day. Lastly, 24% of the participants admitted to not using technology every
day. Parent interviews correlated with the data collected from the surveys. When the
interviewees were asked about how often they use technology, each of them responded by
saying they use technology on a regular basis, whether it was to communicate with their child’s
teacher or other individuals, to play games, or to find something on the Internet. When the
parents were asked the kinds of technology they use or have access to at home, parents listed
iPads, tablets, Kindles, laptops, computers, Instagram, Facebook, and other applications or
software. Anna quickly replied, “Umm... all of the above.” The technology use of those
interviewed is also representative of those surveyed. On the survey, 38 parents stated that they
own laptops, 22 have some brand of tablet, and 48 out of 50 parents surveyed had access to a cell
phone. Parents have experience with technology and use it on a daily basis. The survey and
interview findings demonstrate that parents have access to current technology, are capable of
using technology, understand how to use it, and a have a level of comfort using it. Based on the
evidence, it follows that there is a need for a greater incorporation of technology in the
classroom, better communication with parents, and more diverse ways for parents to become
involved.
Obstacles That Hinder Parental Involvement at High Desert Elementary
Current research has indicated that there are many obstacles that hinder parental
involvement. Hindrances can be attributed to social, cultural, socio-economic, or technological
factors. Turney and Kao (2004), stated that there are many factors that influence parent
participation. Parents may not understand how to help students, or they may lack the academic
skills necessary to help students. Parents may also be unaware of the time commitment required
to support students in school. It was also suggested by Lee and Bowen (2006), that there is a
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decline in parent participation because there may be fewer or more limited opportunities for
parents to become involved. Additionally, Hill and Taylor (2004), stated that the decline could
be due to teachers not knowing how to involve parents in the classroom. Also, being involved at
school is time consuming (Lee & Bowen, 2006). These factors are not different for parents of
students attending High Desert Elementary.
Welcoming Environment
To increase parent involvement at High Desert Elementary, parents need to feel welcome
to volunteer, if the staff is approachable and available. It is important for schools to foster
positive relationships with parents. Hill and Taylor (2004), suggested that schools should
connect with families and foster meaningful relationships between school and home. When
parents were interviewed about feeling welcome at High Desert Elementary, all of the
participants said, “Yes.” To gain a deeper understand participants were asked why they felt that
way. Gail replied, “The principal has always made me feel welcome.” When asked how the
principal did that she replied, “she always says hello and takes time to listen to my concerns.”
Natalie referred to “the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff.” Additionally, Rena responded
that the school has, “a really kind staff.” Jenny also had a similar response to Rena’s. She added
that High Desert Elementary has “a polite staff.” All of the responses attributed feeling welcome
to the interactions they had with the school staff. The survey also indicated that the ability to
communicate with the staff made them feel welcome. Parent responses on the survey confirmed
that 94% of the parents are able to directly contact their child’s teacher when necessary. The
main reasons parents stated for contacting the teacher were for academic, behavior, or health
concerns. However, when parents were observed at literacy STEM night, The Back-to-School
Bash, and the PTO meeting they appeared engaged and involved with conversations amongst
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staff, teachers and parents. At the literacy STEM night, many of the parents were observed
smiling when entering into the school. Parents entered classrooms with students and participated
in activities with the students. Parents could be found sitting around the school smiling, laughing
and engaged in conversations, which indicated a level of comfort.
Communication
Hill and Taylor (2004) suggested that schools should create an inviting environment and
foster open communication and positive dialogue with parents. Additionally, parent
participation may increase by implementing different forms of communication with parents, such
as electronic methods, paper, or by phone in the family’s home language (Hill & Taylor, 2004).
This would include all important resources for the parents. The documents collected indicated
that parents do not currently receive all notices of events in their home language. The flyers for
the school events were published in English. However, the Back-to-School Bash was printed in
both English and Spanish. Additionally, the website and all other information regarding
activities, events, or news was also published or printed in English. During the interviews
parents indicated that the website for the school was not helpful. Jenny commented that, “It isn’t
updated”, and Rena confirmed, “It’s a hassle,” and “It isn’t very informative.” It was confirmed
by trying to access the website. As Rena demonstrated, “one must click on many different links
just to try and find it.”
In order to increase parent participation at High Desert Elementary, parents need to
receive timely, updated information in a variety of ways. It is also important to ensure that
parents receive communication in their home language. During the interviews parents were
asked how communication could be improved. Gail stated that, “There’s no one there [at the
school] that speaks Spanish and we have a large Spanish speaking community.” A lack of bi-
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lingual resources indicates that parents who don’t speak English would need flyers, notes home,
ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017), and other school communication to be accessible to them in
order for them to be more involved.
Time Commitment
As Lee and Bowen (2006) stated, being involved in your child’s education is time
consuming. Many parents do not have the time or resources required to become more involved.
The survey indicated that more than 50% of the parents had two or more children attending High
Desert Elementary. That does not account for any children that they have at home that are not
school age. Two of the school-related activities and events observed revealed that more than half
of the children in attendance were not yet of school age. This was further supported by the
documents obtained from the event, which included the number of family members in
attendance. When accessing students’ records for each of the families listed, I was able to note
the number of students in the family enrolled at High Desert Elementary. Upon further analysis
it revealed that 23% of the children in attendance at the STEM literacy night were not of school
age. When Jenny was interviewed she was asked why she chose to volunteer at a particular
event. She stated, “It was just on a day when my husband could keep the baby.”
For parents who have young children at home it is unlikely for them to volunteer inside
the classroom because siblings are not allowed to attend, so alternative parental opportunities
should be provided. These could be ICT opportunities such as Skyping with the classroom,
providing a video about the job they do, or reading a story to the class. Additionally, all of the
one-on-one interviews confirmed that parents do not have enough time to volunteer due to work
constraints or other responsibilities. When parents were asked what hindered them from
becoming more involved they indicated that they worked. Gail replied, “Other than work, I like
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being involved.” Anna said, “We also take care of two special needs adults and it’s really hard
to bring them and I think that parents that have a lot of little ones makes it hard.” Due to the
increasing demands of work, economic needs, and time, it is essential to offer different ways and
methods for parents to become involved at High Desert Elementary.
Motivation Results
According to Pintrich, motivation provides purpose and direction (2003). Parents at High
Desert Elementary must understand the direct result parent involvement has on student outcomes
in order to make the required investment of time. The two motivational theories that lend insight
into how to contribute to meeting High Desert Elementary’s organizational goals are utility value
and self-efficacy. Validated assumed motivation influences include helping parents identify the
utility value in providing parents with trainings and workshops utilizing technology to increase
parent involvement. Additionally, the assumed influence to increase parental self-efficacy was
also validated. Several parents reported that using technology to provide help with homework
and content taught inside the classroom would be helpful and would be welcomed. It was also
validated that parents would benefit on topics of interest to them.
Utility Value Amongst Parents
Rueda (2011) defined utility value as when an individual believes a task or an activity
helps to achieve a goal. Therefore, parents must understand the importance and value associated
with parental involvement and the impact it has on future goals for students (Pintrich, 2003).
Eccles (2006) further suggested that this can be accomplished by providing choices in training
and other high-interest activities. At High Desert Elementary this is important to consider when
offering different activities, volunteer opportunities, or events to parents. If parents are able to
volunteer in capacities that they feel are worthwhile and beneficial they will commit to serving in
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that capacity. Natalie shared this sentiment. She stated, “I enjoy the interaction with the
children and enjoy volunteering in the classroom.” Later, she stated, “I enjoyed when my oldest
was in reading groups and I had the lower reading group in the class, the lowest reading group.
It was really exciting for the me to see their progress throughout the year; to see their growth.” It
is beneficial for parents to be able to feel that what they are doing has a value and that they are
able to attribute the positive outcomes to their own involvement.
Utility value can also be increased through the development of programs, activities, or
opportunities that parents feel will be beneficial or could provide more opportunities for
participation on their part. The survey indicated that when asked if they would attend a new
training, or a program at the school, 64% said that they would attend or that they would likely
attend. One parent openly responded at the end of the survey, “Skype would be fun if classrooms
did sessions where parents could tune in once a week for a short program, where kids showed a
song they’re learning, or read us a book, or show us a project they’re working on, etc.”
Parents are more likely to become involved when they are offered opportunities for
involvement, or are offered opportunities to participate in other activities that they find
interesting. The observation of the Back-to -school Bash confirmed that parents enjoy activities
that are fun and that offer something they are interested in. The Back-to-School Bash offered
games and a time to get to know other students and families. There were 437 people in
attendance. The literacy STEM night also had 218 people in attendance. This literacy STEM
night was an activity that was geared toward learning, while at the same time offered interesting
and fun activities for students and parents to engage in. When comparing the two events offered
at High Desert Elementary, the results indicated that the event which did not have an educational
component attracted more attention and had a greater attendance. Both events were offered on
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the same day of the week, during the same season, and at the same time. The difference
appeared to hinge on the type of event offered. Upon review of the flyer that went home for the
Back-to-School Bash, it clearly indicated that it was going to be fun. It listed all of the activities
offered and also mentioned that food would be provided. Some of the phrases on the flyer said,
“enter the raffle,” “have fun!” “play games,” and “get to know the High Desert Elementary
learning community.” The flyer that went home for Literacy STEM night also listed activities.
It used phrases such as, “make a book mark” and “sit by the campfire and listen to a story.”
However, since they were educational in nature, they may not have appealed to as many people.
It should also be noted that the Literacy STEM night flyer did not provide the purpose for the
event. In the future, High Desert Elementary should consider informing parents how attendance
at a school event or activity can impact students academically. This would increase the utility
value and help parents understand the importance of attending such an event.
Building Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is determined by how an individual believes in their own capabilities or
ability to complete a task (Bandura, 2000). Pajares (2006) stated that self-efficacy impacts what
an individual will engage in. Their decision to engage is determined by asking two questions,
“Can I complete the task?” and “Do I want to engage in the task?” (Eccles, 2006). Those who
believe that they can complete the task will have a better chance of completing it (Eccles, 2009).
Individuals who lack self-efficacy will exert less effort and motivation, and will be less likely to
complete the task (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, all parent workshops and trainings should promote
and foster self-efficacy. Providing clear expectations and directions for completing a task,
setting short concrete goals, observing models, and providing immediate feedback all foster self-
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efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Currently, there are not parent workshops or trainings offered at High
Desert Elementary. Events and activities are limited to approximately five per year.
Self-efficacy effects how individual view themselves. Some parents feel ill-equipped,
uneducated, or believe that they do not have the experience or skills needed to help students
learn (Greenwood & Hickman, 1991). The survey asked parents to indicate how likely they
would be to access an online video or tutorial to offer help with homework. A majority of the
parents, 76%, indicated that they would watch tutorials on what was taught in the classroom.
Additionally, 70% of the parents surveyed indicated that they would participate in an online blog
that would provide assistance with educational topics or homework help. These numbers
indicate that a large percentage of parents believe they would benefit from such resources. When
the parents interviewed were asked about the benefit of posting online tutorials or educational
resources for reinforcing concepts taught in class, all the parents agreed that it would be helpful.
Anna referred to the blog as a “fantastic idea.”
Analysis of the survey results indicated that 42% of the parents do not have a college
degree and may not be as familiar or proficient with academic concepts. Anna reported that
when common core was introduced, “I had to learn how to do it. It was different than what I was
taught, and I had to learn a different way.” She went on to say that she “would like to see the
method the teacher used… so that I could understand it.” This also correlates with the feelings
Rena expressed while being interviewed about viewing online tutorials. She indicated that she
is, “not a math person” and that she would access tutorials to assist her on, “how to do some of
the math that comes home.” The results also suggested that parents are interested in learning
opportunities, but the opportunities must meet their needs and match their interests. Some
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parents need to know that parents are needed in the classroom. As Natalie stated, “I probably
wouldn’t go in and do it on my own” but when the teacher asked her to, she was “happy to.”
Organizational Results
Organizational influences also have the ability hinder an organization in reaching their
performance goals. Clark and Estes (2008) suggested that this can be attributed to ineffective
work practices, processes, or a lack of material resources. Additionally, the culture of an
organization has the ability to hinder performance goals. It determines how individuals “work
together” to get the “job done” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 107). The two influences that impact
the organization known as High Desert Elementary, are cultural theory and cultural setting.
Assumed organizational influences that were validated include cultural model influence one,
which was a general resistance to change. However, the second cultural model influence which
suggested that there was a culture of distrust, fear or loss of control were only partially validated.
There was a general fear with losing control based on how things are always done, but
parent responses did not indicate distrust. However, this should more fully be explored. The
first assumed cultural setting influence was also validated. It was suggested that current
responsibilities and commitments prevent individuals from taking on new responsibilities.
Therefore, evaluating current programs, activities, and events is important to do. Additionally,
due to increasing responsibility and limited resources there is a lack of ability to take on new
responsibilities. This assumed cultural setting influence was also validated by the data collected
in the interviews.
Cultural Theory
The culture of an organization is a set of “core values, goals, beliefs, emotions, and
processes learned as people develop over time in our family and in our work environments” (p.
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108). This idea of culture can operate both consciously or unconsciously (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Therefore, it is important for all organizations to determine cultural factors that may impede their
ability to reach performance goals. Such factors are: resistance, distrust, and loss of control. The
impediments are caused by potential threats to an individual’s beliefs, values, or goals. The
school staff and personnel at High Desert Elementary are used to doing things the way they have
always been done. This is evidenced by offering traditional parent teacher conferences and the
activity and event types offered at school. One surveyed participant suggested that, “it would be
nice to sign up for parent teacher conferences online so that we have the ability to pick our time.”
This is different than the current method, which is to provide parents with a letter and an
assigned time. This document provides a place for the parents to write their names and either
accept the time or decline the time. Then it is returned to the teacher. If it is declined, the
teacher issues a new time and circulates it back to the parent. This becomes very time
consuming and may not be resolved until the parent is contacted by phone. This is often
problematic because many parents need to take time off work or attempt to reschedule. Parents
may not be able to reschedule and have no option but to miss the conference. When parents are
offered choices and provided with opportunities to get involved, greater parent involvement may
result. This is important to consider as High Desert Elementary attempts to increase parent
participation. When one puts limits on parents, it limits the possibilities for them to become
involved. One survey question asked parents how they felt about using ICT to conference with
their child’s teacher. The parent responses, detailed below in figure 4.3, indicate that the
majority of parents surveyed would definitely use it or would likely use ICT to schedule their
conferences.
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Comfort Level with Skype or Video Conferencing to Discuss Homework or Academics
Figure 4.6. Technology platform survey question and responses.
For those parents who are not comfortable with using Skype or another video platform,
they could still meet with the teacher in person. Providing these types of options would help to
change the culture of the school and assist parents in their efforts to become more involved.
When parents are part of the solution, we will have greater results in the end. Anna was asked a
similar question during her interview. She was asked, “Would you consider using an online
platform to interact with your child’s teacher? Would you attend meetings or other school events
by Skype or another face-to-face platform?” She excitedly answered, “Yes! Yes! Uh, huh!” She
continued to explain the excitement detected in her voice,
This is me going into my husband’s shoes. My husband is agoraphobic and doesn’t like
going out of the house. So, when I had parent conferences my husband could have had a
virtual Skyping conference, where he didn’t have to leave the house. Because Skype can
be on the phone.
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This data indicates that High Desert Elementary should change the way that things are done and
provide parents with as many different involvement opportunities. Utilizing ICT to increase
parental involvement is supported by the data collected in the surveys and the interviews.
By changing the way High Desert Elementary schedules conferences, the school may
experience some resistance from teachers and parents because it challenges the model of how the
school has always functioned. However, directly addressing any resistance using the data
provided, will provide a voice for those parents who desire change. Therefore, it is essential to
take the survey results and present them to the teaching staff and the leadership team.
Recommendations on how to further address organizational needs should be addressed as a team.
Cultural Setting
Cultural setting refers to how individuals interact with their environment (Schein, 2010).
A cultural setting can be identified by observing people who do what they have learned to do.
Two influences that impact change at High Desert Elementary are when individuals are
overextended or overwhelmed by current responsibilities, and a lack of individuals interested in
taking on leadership roles. When teachers or parents feel overextended it interferes with their
ability to take on additional responsibilities or leadership roles regardless of how it may benefit
students. This is due to the extra work, energy, and additional responsibilities that they may
incur due to the change (Hendry, 1996). Parents who work outside the home may not have a lot
of time to attend a PTO meeting or other school events. This may be especially true of a single
parent. In order to address the organizational needs of being overextended or overwhelmed by
current responsibilities and scheduling, parents may need alternative solutions. When I observed
the PTO Meeting on February 5, 2018, a total of 14 people was in attendance, including 2
teachers, the principal, and myself, the researcher. This is a small representation of the number
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of families that attend our school. The current number of families attending the school are 329.
An analysis of the agenda suggested that the low attendance may be due to the time the meeting
occurred. The meeting occurred at 1:00 p.m., while parents may have been at work or at home
with other children. One parent in attendance had their young child with them, but sat in the
back and did not actively participate in the conversation. From the agenda, it appeared that this
meeting had a significant amount of school issues to discuss, such as school boundary changes,
parent teacher conferences, and the STEM school application. Stated on the top of the agenda
was the school’s mission and vision statement, as well as the PTO goals. The goals included,
“promote open, positive communication between students, faculty, and parents” and to
“encourage parent involvement.”
One way, as suggested on the survey by a parent, to increase parental involvement would
be for High Desert Elementary to offer to videotape all meetings and upload them to a website
for parents to view at a later time. This idea was also supported by survey question 16, and the
responses from the parent interviews. Parents who could not attend the meeting in person, would
have the opportunity to attend the meeting by Skype. By using Skype parents could still be
involved and provide responses and input regarding important topics of discussion, and provide
feedback about decisions being made in “real time.”
Additionally, when parents were asked if they would watch videos or tutorials online that
assisted with concepts taught in class, 80% of the parents said they would likely access the
videos or tutorials. These results are detailed in Figure 4.4. Provision of these additional
resources for parents would increase their involvement with students. For parents who do not
have the time to learn how to teach a new math concept or complete an assignment, an online
video or tutorial would provide parents with options to help their child, while limiting the time
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spent on learning something new. This idea is supported by the data collected from parent
interviews. All five parents interviewed said that if online videos or tutorials were available,
they would access them. Anna stated, “I would like to know how they taught it in the
classroom,” referring to a specific concept taught by the teacher and expressed her desire for the
teacher to, “explain it” to her.
Likelihood of Accessing or Watching Videos or Tutorials on Concepts Taught
Figure 4.7. Video and Tutorial Survey Question
Parents were also asked about using ICT, such as a blog to provide parents with homework help
or other educational topics. This type of interaction would provide parents with the opportunity
to get involved and communicate with other parents. More than half of the parents who were
surveyed marked that they would likely or definitely use the blog. See the diagram below. Four
of the five parents interviewed said that they would interact with the blog. Rena responded, “A
blog. I like that. That would be good, a blog. I would use that.” Anna commented by saying,
“Absolutely!” Jenny felt that a blog would be beneficial for her to have access to because “she
would read it.” She continued by stating, “I don’t think I would get on there and write my
opinion, but I would read it.”
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Comfort Level Interacting with an Online Blog to Assist with Homework/Academics
Figure 4.8. Blog survey question results.
Another issue to consider is the number of programs or events available to parents for
involvement at school. Hendry (1996) suggested that too many programs or initiatives can be
disruptive and may not be beneficial. Parents and teachers may feel overwhelmed and unwilling
to participate in additional programs that would prove to be beneficial for student learning
outcomes. Instead, Hendry (1996) suggested limiting initiatives by an evaluation of what is
working. An evaluation of the survey results is one way to understand how parents feel about
current activities, events, and programs offered at High Desert Elementary. Additionally, it
indicated other initiatives and resources that parents felt would be beneficial to offer to parents.
The survey asked parents, two additional questions related to educational opportunities or
resources that could be of interest to them. Questions 19-20 on the survey asked parents how
likely they would be to use a specific ICT resource or about parent training opportunities. It is
important to consider parent responses before implementing more programs or scheduling more
activities. Therefore, asking parents what they need to have offered at school to assist them
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provides a buy-in, and will reduce the number of unwarranted activities and events at High
Desert Elementary. Question 19 on the survey asked parents if they would be interested in
training for new technology or programs offered at the school. Parents who indicated that they
would attend or most likely would attend equaled 64% of those surveyed.
Likelihood of Attending Training for New Technology or Programs at School
Figure 4.9. Technology training survey question responses.
Offering specific trainings or workshops would provide assistance to those parents who
answered questions neutrally or indicated that they were uncomfortable using Skype or other
ICT resources. It would also provide parents with additional knowledge and tools to help
students with homework or class assignments. In one parent interview, Gail was asked if
technology was used to complete homework. She replied that her child has, “been on and I’m
not sure of how to even do it. She knows how to get on to their personal program. She hasn’t
shown me how to do it.” If a parent does not know how to help their child, how can teachers or
the school expect for them to be involved? In order to bridge the gap, opportunities to learn what
students are learning at school should be offered. When parents were asked about what they
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
103
would specifically like to learn, top responses included: application usage, basic laptop and
computer skills, and Skype.
Technology Training of Interest to Parents
Figure 4.10. Technology Training Selected by Interest Survey Question
According to the survey data collected and the interview data, parents feel that
technology training is a beneficial opportunity to get involved in. The data collected supports
how parents interact with the school and impact the culture. Data driven changes will assist in
reducing or eliminating current programs that do not strive to meet the goals of the school
(Langley et al., 2009). Parent trainings and workshops meet the current need of the parents and
the school by creating innovative ways to increase parent participation.
Conclusion
The findings of this study on parent participation identified and confirmed that there are
significant gaps in the KMO influences at High Desert Elementary. Parents need constant
communication. This was validated by the study. Parents felt that the overall communication
methods were effective, but that some were preferred over others. Those that were preferred,
such as ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017), are technology based. With technology leading the
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
104
way in the 21
st
century, parents are relying on it to communicate with teachers more readily.
That means that teachers will need to ensure that they are communicating and involving parents
in a manner that allows them to get involved. Parents require knowledge of all events, activities,
and parent involvement opportunities offered at High Desert Elementary. They need to be
provided with different choices for opportunities for involvement which allow them to feel
effective and provide a sense of accomplishment.
The current opportunities offered to become involved may disrupt the current culture of
the school. However, to reach the school’s goal of increasing parent participation by 50%,
solutions may need to be innovative or cutting edge, for this small-town school district. Meaning
that as larger urban school districts are more progressive and lead the way by incorporating
technology, this district has room to grown when implementing ICT. Using technology to bridge
the gap is an innovative solution that appears to be widely accepted and used by the majority of
parents surveyed and interviewed. It is also a solution which currently impacts the future of our
students and our drives our economy. The motivational influences on the parents’ ability to find
value in being involved will require the school to design opportunities for parents that may be
unconventional, such as Skype. This finding was validated by parent responses to the survey and
interviews questions, which indicated that they would like training on how to use Skype, and
they would use it to attend meetings or events.
Activities that are of interest to parents will also assist in increasing parent participation.
Additionally, it is important for parents to build self-efficacy. Parents need to be presented with
opportunities to learn new concepts or refresh their skills before helping students, to ensure that
the lack of parent involvement is due to it consuming too much time. Organizationally, parents
need to be part of the solution. They need to provide input on programs, events, activities, and
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
105
trainings offered at High Desert Elementary. It is essential that they are provided with
alternative ways to do things, such as online surveys or parent conferences. After all, Einstein
said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.” If we want
to increase parent participation, it means that we need to try something new.
Chapter Five discusses the solutions, implementations, and recommendations based on
the needs identified in this chapter. It provides an outline of additional steps the stakeholders
must take in order to meet their identified goal, as well as suggests innovative ways to meet those
needs. It suggests an evaluation plan to determine if the solutions are effective or if
implementation of the plan reveals any additional gaps that need to be addressed with further
research. The evaluation plan is used to guide and provide support for creating change.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
106
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences
This chapter provides recommendations for the knowledge and motivational influences
applicable to the organizational goal identified by High Desert Elementary increasing parental
involvement. These recommendations are based on the findings presented in Chapter Four and
address the third and fourth research questions guiding the study. Parental involvement is a
significant predictor of student success (Henderson & Berla, 1994) and when parents are
involved it produces positive outcomes for students (Eccles & Harold, 1993). This issue is vital
to address due to the consistent decline in parental involvement at the elementary school level
(Jeynes, 2005).
The organizational goal states that High Desert Elementary will increase parental
involvement 50% by June of 2020. To achieve High Desert Elementary’s overall organizational
goal there are several issues that need to be addressed, including personal barriers held by
parents and key factors that contribute to their limited involvement (Colombo, 2006; Peña, 2010;
Turney & Kao, 2009). The goal will be accomplished through the identified stakeholder goals.
Stakeholders are individuals or groups that affect or are affected by the organization’s goals
(Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997). The stakeholders identified are the district, the administration
(the principal), the parents, and the teaching and leadership team, which is comprised of teachers.
The first stakeholder goal states that High Desert Elementary parents will participate in
surveys and interviews, to determine how High Desert Elementary can increase parental
involvement and develop an action plan. The second goal states that the administrator will
facilitate and plan “Parent Action Committee Meetings” that address parental involvement, aide
in developing parent, and plan for additional involvement opportunities. The last goal is
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
107
designed for the teaching staff and leadership team of High Desert Elementary. The goal is that
the teachers will develop and implement a plan of action to increase parent involvement in order
to achieve our organizational goal. The recommendations are based on a needs assessment
determined by the results of parent surveys and interviews. The recommendations also take into
consideration the literature review which reflects the knowledge influences necessary for the
core stakeholders to obtain. The New World Kirkpatrick model is utilized to guide the
recommended knowledge, motivation, and organization solutions, as well as the evaluation plan
in the study (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Knowledge Influences
Social cognitive learning theory, states that an individual’s cognition, environment, and
behavior all contribute to the learning experience. Learning is achieved through observation
modeling, and effective practice (Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2006). The attainment of
knowledge is crucial in the learning process. As individuals acquire new knowledge it is
important to understand how to effectively transfer new learning to working memory.
Krathwohl (2002) refers to Bloom’s taxonomy, which defines four classifications of knowledge
and defines them in terms of a framework that represents a cumulative hierarchy. Learners must
master one level before moving on to the next, more complex level (Krathwohl, 2002). The four
classifications, or levels of the structure of knowledge are identified as factual, conceptual,
procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). These classifications of knowledge are
important to consider when designing any new learning opportunities. The ability to acquire
knowledge and skills systematically, paired with the opportunity to transfer the knowledge
learned will increase job or work performance (Grossman & Salas, 2011). This is imperative to
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
108
consider when addressing parental concerns and designing any training or workshops for the
training to be effective.
Knowledge Recommendations
Document analysis, surveys, interviews, and observations were used to collect data to
identify the knowledge influences that may be hindering High Desert Elementary’s ability to
reach their stakeholder goal. All knowledge influences were organized into three main
categories: declarative, procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Clark and Estes
suggested that individuals must begin with understanding what declarative knowledge is needed
before addressing the needs associated with higher levels of knowledge, such as conceptual,
procedural, or metacognitive. The specific influences and recommendations are listed in Table
5.1. Influences were validated during the data collection phase, as a result of the study and were
determined to have a high priority for achieving the stakeholders’ goal. If the recommendations
are implemented, it is believed that they will help to increase parental involvement at the
elementary school level.
Table 5.1
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence:
Cause,
Need, or
Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
or No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Factual
Knowledge:
Parents need
to know the
importance
of why they
No No Factual Knowledge is
comprised of the most
basic or fundamental
facts and details that a
learner must know
within a specific
Provide parents with
research and
information that focuses
on the positive benefits
associated with parental
involvement in school
and with homework.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
109
should get
involved.
domain (Krathwohl,
2002; Redding, 2014).
Help individuals
identify and understand
important points of
why they should do
something (Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
Make connections
between the research
that benefits
students/children and
the opportunities
available at the school
site.
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence:
Cause,
Need, or
Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
or No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Conceptual
Knowledge:
Parents do
not know
how to
become
involved at
school or
which
opportunities
are available.
Validated Yes Conceptual Knowledge
builds upon the basic
facts or details and aids
in making connections
or building
relationships in a very
purposeful manner.
This includes
classification,
categorization,
generalization, theory,
models, and structures
(Krathwohl, 2002).
Provide job aids that
provide a list of
involvement
opportunities and
summarizes the
actions/requirements/sk
ills associated with
each
(Clark & Estes, 2008).
Help individuals
connect new
knowledge to prior
knowledge and to
construct meaning
Provide a job aid, which
will be a list of
volunteer opportunities
for parents that gives a
brief description of the
job duties, time
commitment, and
frequency.
Provide lists on the
school website and offer
sign-ups on the website
Provide online tutorials
for parents to view
Provide an online
survey for parents to
take that provides a list
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
110
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
Connect learning to
individual interests to
encourage
meaningfulness
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
of opportunities that
they would be interested
in, which will be used to
create upcoming
opportunities for parents
to volunteer or
participate in.
Procedural
Knowledge:
Parents need
to know how
to effectively
help in the
classroom.
Validated Yes Procedural Knowledge
identifies how an
individual completes a
task, the steps in a
process, engages in the
inquiry process,
specific methods,
techniques, procedures,
skills, or algorithms, to
accomplish an
identified goal
(Krathwohl, 2002).
Model effective
strategy use, including
“how” and “when” to
use particular strategies
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
Break down complex
tasks and encourage
individuals to think
about content in
strategic ways (Schraw
& McCrudden, 2006).
Frequent practice
spread out over shorter
learning sessions is
more effective for
learning than one
longer session (Mayer,
2011).
Provide training
workshops that teach
Parents will be offered
training workshops
online (live or recorded)
that will teach them
different skills utilized
in the classroom.
Parents will also be
taught how to use
different technological
resources available to
help parents become
more involved. Parents
will be taught programs
such as: iMovie (Apple
Inc., 2017), Popplet
(Notion Inc., 2017), and
ClassDojo (Class Twist
Inc., 2017).
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
111
knowledge and skill,
practice, and feedback
has positive impact on
results (Clark & Estes,
2008)
Procedural
Knowledge:
Parents need
to help
identify and
develop new
technological
resources to
be used for
communicati
on or other
resources
that will aid
parents in
being
involved.
Validated Yes Provide opportunities
for people to practice
skills and for transfer
(Clark & Estes, 2008).
Based on what parents
have learned about
being involved and have
learned, they will help
develop new
technological resources
to be implemented at
the school site, such as a
website blog to interact
with other parents and
the school community.
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence:
Cause,
Need, or
Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
or No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation Context-Specific
Recommendation
Metacognitiv
e
Knowledge:
Parents need
to assess
their
strengths and
weakness
with
technology
and their
ability to use
it for
increasing
parental
involvement.
Validated Yes Metacognitive
Knowledge is involved
in the learning process
(Peña, 2010).
Metacognition
facilitates learning. It is
the cognitive process
that allows learners to
think about what they
are thinking, and
combines both memory
and attention to
increase knowledge
(Baker, 2006).
Have learners identify
prior knowledge (what
Parents will assess their
current technology use
and will inventory their
strengths and
weaknesses.
Provide parents with
opportunities to help in
the classroom by
providing opportunities
that match their skill
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
112
they know and what
they do not know about
a topic) before a
learning task (Mayer,
2011).
Provide opportunities
for learners to engage
in guided self-
monitoring and self-
assessment (Baker,
2006).
Provide opportunities
for learners to debrief
the thinking process
upon completion of the
learning task (Baker,
2006).
Model your own
metacognitive process
by talking out loud and
assessing strengths and
weaknesses (Baker,
2006).
level through an online
platform.
Provide mini
assessments online that
will allow parents to
self-monitor and assess
specific skills.
Parents will debrief
after learning about
different technological
resources utilized in the
classroom and reflect on
their ability to use them
effectively, as well as
discuss learning tasks
with other participants
both online and while
attending workshops.
Declarative knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. Declarative
knowledge encompasses two levels of cognitive tasks, factual knowledge and conceptual
knowledge. The first recommended need is based on factual knowledge. Factual knowledge
provides basic facts or details about what a learner must know in any specific domain
(Krathwohl, 2002; Redding, 2014). Parents need to understand the importance of why they
should become involved with their child at school. It is of high priority because individuals need
to know why they do something or why something matters in order to motivate them to get
involved. Schraw and McCrudden (2006) stated that it is beneficial to help individuals identify
and understand the importance of doing something. The first recommendation is to provide
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
113
parents with research and information that highlight the positive benefits associated with parental
involvement in school and with homework. This would ideally be provided by teachers at the
school site. It would be beneficial to make connections between the research provided and
parental involvement, as well as discuss the different ways parental involvement can benefit
students. It is recommended that parents participate in a survey to identify interests and needs
and analyze the highest interests and needs to develop opportunities available at the school site
throughout the school year.
The second recommendation is based on conceptual knowledge. Conceptual knowledge
builds upon the basic facts or details by making connections or building relationships in a very
purposeful manner. These connections and relationships are built through classification,
categorization, generalization, theory, models, and structures (Krathwohl, 2002). Parents need to
know how to become involved at school and which opportunities are available to them. It is of
high priority because if parents are unaware of how to help, they may not become involved in the
opportunities presented. Therefore, it is important to provide parents with a list of involvement
opportunities, a description of the opportunity, and a summary of requirements or skills
associated with each (Clark & Estes, 2008). This will help parents connect the new knowledge
they learned about the importance of becoming involved and with their knowledge to construct
and reinforce meaning (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). By providing a list of opportunities
available, a brief description of the opportunity, the time commitment, and the frequency of the
activity, provides parents with the ability to select opportunities that fit their interest and
availability (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). These lists should be provided online, as wells as
posted under the upcoming events in the school. Opportunities to sign up to volunteer should be
made available online. An example identified through the conducted research was to offer
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
114
parent-teacher conference sign-ups online. Teachers can post upcoming parent volunteer needs
on the website for each classroom, as well as school wide opportunities that will be available in
the future.
Procedural knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. The third identified
need is based on procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge identifies the manner in which
an individual completes a task, the steps in a process, how they engage in the inquiry process,
specific methods, techniques, procedures, skills, or algorithms that are needed to accomplish an
identified goal or task (Krathwohl, 2002). Parents need to know how to effectively help their
children, whether it be at home or in the classroom. It is recommended that High Desert
Elementary offer workshops and trainings to parents. These workshops and trainings should
focus on teaching parents different skills utilized in the classroom that have been identified
through the surveys. If parents are unable to attend a “live” session, meeting, or activity in
person, Skype should be made available. All parent involvement opportunities, such as
workshops and trainings, should be made available online to parents. Trainings and workshops
should be viewable live, easily accessed by Skype, or by watching a recorded video. It is
recommended that High Desert Elementary video tape all parent trainings and make videos
available online. This provides future resources for parents to access when they need them.
Parents will also be provided with opportunities to learn how to use different
technological resources which are available at the school site, leading to more involvement from
the parents. They will learn programs such as: iMovie (Apple Inc., 2017), Popplet (Notion Inc.,
2017), and ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017). In order to provide parents with the needed step-
by-step instructions on how to use the technology or program, workshops or trainings should be
offered on campus. It is also recommended that all meetings be recorded and shared as a
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
115
resource for parents. These suggestions are based on the data collected throughout the study and
has yet to be implemented. Recording meetings is of high priority because parents are more apt
to help when they know what to do and how to do it. When strategies are modeled, and
individuals are instructed on “how” and “when” to use particular strategies, the strategies are
more effective (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). Modeling strategies provides parents with an
understanding of what they will be doing. By breaking down what may seem to be complex
tasks, individuals are encouraged to think about what they are learning or doing strategically
(Schraw & McCrudden, 2006) to reduce anxiety. It is more beneficial for increased learning of
the new tasks to provide frequent, short practice sessions or training over time (Mayer, 2011).
Metacognitive knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. The last
recommendation is identified as a metacognitive need. Metacognitive knowledge is involved in
the learning process (Peña, 2010). Metacognition is involved with cognitive processes. It allows
learners to think about what they are learning or thinking, and combines both memory and
attention to increase knowledge (Baker, 2006). Parents of High Desert Elementary need to
assess their strengths and weakness associated with technology and their ability to use it for
increasing their individual involvement. Metacognition is effective when individuals, learners,
or in this case, parents are provided with opportunities to debrief the thinking process after
completing a learning task (Baker, 2006). This can be strengthened by talking aloud and by
assessing the strengths and weaknesses of oneself (Baker, 2006). It is recommended that parents
assess their current technology use, as well as take inventory of their strengths and weaknesses
with technology. This will aid in their ability to effectively volunteer in the classroom.
In the recommended trainings parents would also be encouraged to debrief or discuss the
different skill or tasks that they have learned, and their comfort level with the different
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
116
technological resources utilized in the classroom. It would be beneficial for parents to reflect on
their ability to use specific ICT programs or devices effectively and whether they may or may
not need additional time or training. This recommendation is of high priority because parents
need to have an acute awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in order to effectively be
involved at school. Otherwise, they may not actually become involved because they feel ill-
equipped. As parents should be offered training and workshops both on campus and online.
This would be useful for parents who have conflicting potential scheduling conflicts or the
ability to attend an event in person.
Motivation Recommendations
Introduction. This section focuses on motivation. As data collection is complete, Table
5.2 provides a list of assumed influences. Validation was based on the stakeholders’ responses
from the data obtained from interviews and surveys, as well as from related research and theory.
Grossman and Salas (2011) defined motivation as “the process that accounts for an individual’s
intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal” (p. 109). It plays a crucial
role in helping stakeholders reach their determined goals (Mayer, 2011), while providing purpose
and direction (Pintrich, 2003). Two motivational theories contributed to meeting High Desert
Elementary’s organizational goals surrounding value and self-efficacy. Research indicates that
offering workshops to parents and providing training in high interest opportunities act as an
effective way to increase self-efficacy and motivation (Beale, 1985; Hill & Taylor, 2004).
Table 5.2
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Motivation
Influence:
Cause,
Validated
Yes, High
Probability
, No
Priori-
ty
Yes,
No
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
117
Need, or
Asset*
(V, HP, N) (Y, N)
Utility
Value:
Parents do
not recognize
the value of
being
involved at
their child’s
school.
Validated Yes Stakeholders will
engage in an
activity of value to
them (Eccles,
2009)
Motivation and
learning increase
when the individual
values the task
(Eccles, 2006).
Parents will be
provided research-
based materials at
parent workshops that
outline the benefits of
parent involvement.
Materials and research
will also be provided in
an online library.
Surveys will be
distributed to parents to
identify needs and
interests for workshops
and training topics.
Utility
Value:
Parents lack
interest in
activities or
tasks that
take place at
school.
High
Probability
No Social interaction,
cooperative
learning, and
cognitive
apprenticeships
(such as reciprocal
teaching) facilitate
construction of new
knowledge (Scott
& Palincsar, 2006).
Incorporate real-
life, original
materials that are
vivid, varied,
novel, or bring
about an element of
surprise (Schraw &
Lehman, 2009).
Provide choices,
build enthusiasm,
and build on prior
knowledge increase
interest (Schraw &
Lehman, 2009).
Parents will be
provided a
questionnaire that will
ask parents to list
choices of
opportunities for them
to volunteer that will
build on interest and
current skill
level/comfort. Sign-ups
will be available
online.
Parents will build
relationships with the
teachers, school staff,
and other parents in
order to foster
relationships and
alleviate anxiety by
attending school
functions and parent
workshops that include
vivid, real-life
materials that will
facilitate learning and
contribute to building
knowledge of skills.
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118
Building supportive
and caring personal
relationship in the
community of
learners (Pintrich,
2003).
All training and
workshops will have
video conferencing
capability and be
recorded for later
viewing.
Self-
Efficacy:
Parents feel
unsupported
and
unqualified
when
participating
at school
High
Probability
No By providing
models who are
credible or similar
it can foster
positive values
(Pajares, 2006).
Providing
instructional
support, multiple
opportunities for
practice, and
removing the
scaffolding to
create
independence
increases self-
efficacy (Pajares,
2006).
Teach evidence-
based study skills
and strategies to
enable learner
success and
alleviate anxiety
(Lord & Kanfer,
2002)
Parents will be
provided opportunities
such as workshops, to
work alongside other
parents, or with the
teacher to learn new
skills or reinforce
learning, and to provide
additional support
when working in the
classroom or on the
campus. Additional
resources will be made
available online. These
will include online
tutorials and a parent
blog.
Utility Value. Parents of elementary school age children attending High Desert
Elementary may not understand the value they add to their child’s education when they choose to
participate in their child’s education. This lack of utility value affects the belief that their direct
involvement will positively affect their child’s educational outcomes. They do not become
involved at school because they have a lack of interest activities or tasks offered or they lack the
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
119
motivation to try something new. Eccles (2009) found that individuals will engage in an activity
when it is of value to them, and that motivation increases when they value the task. This
suggests that helping parents understand the importance of being involved in their child’s
education and linking it with opportunities that they are interested in will increase their
motivation. Therefore, it is suggested that parents be provided evidence-based research that
outlines positive effects associated with their direct involvement. It is also recommended that
parents should be administered questionnaires that would identify their interests and skill levels
for parental involvement opportunities offered at the school site. It is essential for school
administrators to build upon their interests and abilities, which will also increase their motivation
to become involved.
The basic tenet of utility value is that learning is enhanced when there is value associated
with the task and it contributes to a desired end-result (Eccles, 2006). The value of the expected
outcome influences whether you want to take part. Rueda stated that, “utility value refers to how
useful one believes a task or activity is for achieving some future goal” (2011, p. 42). Therefore,
it is essential to discuss the importance and value associated with increasing parental
involvement and the potential positive outcomes it may have on achieving future goals (Pintrich,
2003). This can be accomplished by providing choices in training activities, increasing
confidence, high-interest materials and activities, and the successful completion of tasks (Eccles,
2006). It is recommended to design and implement surveys and interviews to determine how
parents would like to become involved (Pintrich, 2003). This will aid in designing activities,
events, trainings, and workshops that will be of interest to parents and motivate them to become
more involved.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
120
Additionally, it is important to foster relationships between school and home. Pintrich
(2003) suggested that one way of increasing motivation is by building supportive and caring
relationships. When planning workshops or other events at the school, it is recommended that
opportunities be offered for parents, teachers, and other school staff to work together in
meaningful ways. This could be through games or hands on events at the school. This will help
to alleviate anxiety and develop caring relationships, while facilitating learning in a supportive
environment. One suggestion offered by a parent on the survey was the use of ICT to connect to
the classroom and share songs or activities taking place. The idea of extending the learning
community to the home. Another option would be to ask parents who are proficient in
technology to help provide their expertise. Parents could be asked to provide training for other
parents who desire to learn more about a specific computer program or application. This would
help to increase motivation and create buy-in for parents to be further involved based on their
interest.
Self-efficacy. Parents sometimes feel unsupported and unqualified when participating in
school events or volunteer opportunities. Pajares (2002) suggested that by providing
instructional support, additional opportunities for practice, and removing the scaffolding to
create independence will increase self-efficacy. Support provided by providing models who are
credible or similar can foster positive values and further increase self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006).
Self-efficacy often determines what individuals choose to do and whether they complete the task
(Pajares, 2006). Furthermore, Lord and Kanfer (2002) suggested teaching evidence-based study
skills and strategies will enable learner success and alleviate anxiety by increasing confidence in
skills. It is recommended that teachers design workshops and other trainings based on parent
needs and interests, as collected from the surveys.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
121
Parent participation in trainings increases the learning of new skills, as well as provides
immediate support and practice to increase self-efficacy, lower anxiety, and increase their
comfort level. It is also recommended that parents be provided with opportunities to learn new
skills through workshops on a regular basis. Providing regularly scheduled workshops and
trainings allows them to work alongside other parents or with the teacher to learn new skills and
practice them, thus increasing self-efficacy. It also builds community relationships. It is
recommended that all events are scheduled in advance and that parents are provided notification
online, using an APP, or their preferred communication method. Again, it is recommended that
all trainings and workshops be recorded and uploaded to an online resource library for High
Desert Elementary.
Self-efficacy may initiate an individual’s desire to complete a task and their internal
desire to engage in persistent mental effort (Pajares, 2006). Self-efficacy is determined by an
individual’s belief in his or her own abilities or capacity to complete a task (Bandura, 2000).
Self-efficacy impacts what an individual chooses to engage in, persist in, and whether or not an
individual accomplishes the task (Pajares, 2006). Self-efficacy is centered on two main
questions, “Can I complete the task?” and “Do I want to engage in the task?” (Eccles, 2006). If
individuals believe they can complete the task, they have a much greater chance in completing it
(Eccles, 2009). Individuals who lack self-efficacy will be less likely to complete tasks (Pajares,
2006). Therefore, it is highly recommended to incorporate strategies that would foster self-
efficacy in all workshops, trainings, or instructional videos. This is accomplished by providing
clear expectations and directions for completing a task, setting short concrete goals, observing
models, and providing immediate feedback (Pajares, 2006). Offering parent training workshops
will increase a parent’s skills and self-efficacy, and further contribute to decreased anxiety about
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122
participating in the classroom. Denler et al., (2006) suggested that modeling strategies or
behaviors will increase self-efficacy, learning, and performance outcomes.
Organization Recommendations
The data collection that was analyzed in Chapter Four provided validation for the
assumed organizational influences based on the most frequently mentioned organizational
influences obtained during informal interviews and surveys. Validation is also supported by the
literature review and the basic tenets of cultural theory. Cultural models and cultural settings are
two constructs that highly impact an organization’s ability to achieve their defined goals and
mission. According to Fryberg and Markus (2007) cultural models are practices, beliefs, or ideas
that guide a group or a person’s activities or daily life. The cultural setting is the time and place
that the activity or practice occurs. Clark and Estes (2008) stated that unless the organization’s
goals are aligned with the mission and the vision, goals may not be achieved. Table 5.3 depicts
the validated organizational influences that are of high priority for achieving the stakeholders’
goal. The table also provides suggested recommendations for the organization based on the
setting and model.
Table 5.3
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Organization
Influence:
Cause, Need,
or Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priori
-ty
Yes,
No
(Y, N)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Setting: The
organization
needs to
communicate
the goals
associated with
Validated Yes When organizational
stakeholders agree
on the mission,
goals, or plans and
communicates them,
it increases
The organization
will communicate
the parental
involvement goals
with the parents at
parent meetings at
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
123
parental
involvement to
the parents.
organizational
performance (Clark
& Estes, 2008).
Effective leaders are
knowledgeable
about the use of
effective
communication
skills to facilitate
change and enhance
organizational
capacity (Conger,
1991; Denning,
2005; Lewis, 2011).
the beginning of the
year and outline
different
opportunities for
parents to become
involved.
The school will keep
opportunities posted
on the website and
provide additional
details.
Setting: The
organization
needs to align
the vision of
the
organization
with the
culture of the
school
Validated Yes “Leaders should not
focus on culture
change. Focus on
the business
problem: what isn’t
working. The key to
problem
identification is to
become very
specific,” (Schein,
2004).
Clark and Estes
(2008) suggested
that culture is
powerful and that if
you want to change
performance you
need to change the
culture or beliefs
within the
organization.
Organizational
effectiveness
increases when
leaders identify,
articulate, focus the
organization’s effort
on, and reinforce the
The organization
will review the
vision of the school
to ensure that it
aligns with the
school culture after
conducting a parent
survey based on
parental needs and
involvement.
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124
organization’s
vision; they lead
from the why
(Kotter, 2007).
Setting: The
organization
needs to
effectively
communicate
with parents or
staff .
Validated Yes When individuals
communicate
consistently and
clearly to others
about plans or goals,
it increases
organizational
performance (Clark
& Estes, 2008).
Effective leaders
understand the
intricacies of
organizational
communication
(Conger, 1991;Fix
& Sias, 2006;
Lewis, 2011).
The organization
will implement the
use of a school-wide
calendar to schedule
all events and
publish an electronic
newsletter for all
parents and staff that
provides a calendar
of events,
opportunities, and
trainings.
Setting: The
organization
needs to
provide
resources to
parents at
training and
workshops.
High
Probability
No When processes and
resources are
aligned with goals it
increases the
organizational
performance (Clark
& Estes, 2008).
Modeling to-be-
learned strategies or
behaviors improves
self-efficacy,
learning, and
performance (Denler
et al., 2006).
In an attempt to
increase parental
involvement, the
organization will
offer workshops to
parents that focus on
specific skills to
help students in the
classroom or at
home. These
trainings will occur
on a monthly basis.
Parents will be
given a survey to
determine skills that
parents would like
to receive training
for. Surveys and
sign-ups will be
provided online, as
well as other
tutorials and web-
based resources
(blog, etc.).
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125
Model: The
organization
needs to work
collaborativ-
ely with
parents to set
academic goals
and determine
resources.
High
Probability
No Effective leaders
demonstrate a
commitment to
valuing diversity
through inclusive
action. They
promote an
organizational
culture that
promotes equity and
inclusion and
cultivates an
atmosphere where
diversity is viewed
as an asset to the
organization and its
stakeholders
(Angeline, 2011;
Preito, Phipps &
Osiri, 2009).
Effective leaders
regularly engage in
the process of
reflection in order to
ensure their actions
promote an
atmosphere of
inclusion and
diversity. They
facilitate problem-
solving strategies
that promote
objectivity, equity,
and inclusivity
(Bensimon, 2005;
DiTomaso, Post &
Parks-Yancy, 2007).
Schedule monthly
parent meetings with
school site staff that
focuses on
reviewing school
goals and additional
resources required,
so that parents can
make suggestions
and provide
feedback for
possible solutions.
All PTO meetings
will utilize ICT to
offer video
conferencing to
parents who are
unable to attend.
Parents will be
asked to engage in
short surveys at the
end of trainings to
record and provide
feedback. This will
be used to guide and
identify future
trainings and
additional resources
that parents may
need. It will also
provide feedback on
how effective the
trainings are for
parents.
Cultural settings. Currently, the vision of the organization is not completely aligned
with the culture of the school, and it struggles with effectively sharing the organizational goals.
The school needs to use effective communication practices and provide training opportunities to
parents. Clark and Estes (2008) suggested that it is important to align the culture of the
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organization with all communication policies, and procedures in order to increase performance.
Therefore, it is recommended that the school conduct a meeting at the beginning of the year that
outlines the organizational goals and parental involvement opportunities. Keeping a school-wide
calendar of events posted for parents on the website and publishing an electronic newspaper also
contribute to increased communication. For those parents that do not have access to the Internet
it is important to make a paper copy available. All calendars will also be sent home with
students at the beginning of the month. It is further recommended that the organization should
review the vision of the school and ensure that it continues to align with to the school vision,
after parent recommendations from surveys are completed. Based on an analysis of the
information collected from the surveys and interviews, parents will be offered training
workshops, training opportunities, and tutorials, that would provide valuable information and
skills to parents. These skills are beneficial when working with students at school and at home
and would increase self-efficacy for parents.
Clark and Estes (2008) stated that when organizational stakeholders agree on the mission,
goals, or plans and communicates them, it increases organizational performance. They further
suggested that when processes and resources are aligned with goals, organizational performance
is increased. This can be further enhanced when individuals communicate consistently and
clearly to others about plans or goals (Clark & Estes, 2008; Kotter, 1995). The research supports
and validates the recommendations to communicate with parents about the organizational goals,
parental opportunities, and provide training support in order to increase parental involvement in
the organization.
Cultural models. The organization should implement collaboration with parents to set
academic goals and determine resources to enhance learning outcomes. Otherwise, it may lead
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
127
to lack of parent participation. Clark and Estes (2008) suggested that culture is powerful and that
if you want to change performance, you need to change the culture or beliefs within the
organization. This suggests that the organization may need to change their current beliefs
associated with parental involvement and value participation, suggestions, and collaboration with
parents. It is recommended that this be accomplished by holding monthly parent meetings that
allow parents to have access to school goals, be able to make suggestions, provide feedback, and
discuss alternative solutions for parental involvement. Utilizing ICT or other video conferencing
capabilities to provide access to parents unable to attend these meetings in person is an essential
tool for increasing parent collaboration. It is also recommended that all meetings be video
recorded and provided online for parents to access when time permits. A blog could be
implemented by topic to provide all parents with the ability to share their thoughts and concerns
in relation to the meetings.
Schein (2004) stated that it is important to be very specific when looking at how to solve
a problem. The problem identified within the organization is the inability to value parental
involvement and collaboration. Angeline (2011) and Prieto, Phipps, and Osiri (2009) suggested
that effective leaders demonstrate value through full inclusion and an appreciation for diversity.
The data collected validates the recommendation to support a change in beliefs, value the
diversity, and support parent collaboration. This will also help to increase organizational
performance.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The model used to guide the implementation and evaluation plan for this study is the new
world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This new model is based on the
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original Kirkpatrick model, which was first introduced in the 1950’s (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). Its’ purpose was to provide a method for evaluating training in the workplace. The new
world model maintains the purpose behind the original method, however it is implemented in
reverse order to allow for planning a program (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This allows
the model to provide focus on the most important aspect of the program; the outcome. By
working backwards, it allows accurate evaluation of the training based on the results attained
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This could be through both formative and summative
assessments. When implementing the four levels, the model will evaluate the results of the
targeted outcome, determine the degree the participants apply what they have learned, evaluate
the knowledge acquired and their commitment, and their reaction to the training (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016). By applying the implementation and evaluation plan, it allows for immediate
feedback on the training (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Organizational Purpose, Need and Expectations
The organization’s purpose is to facilitate the learning process and academic success of
all children by preparing them for college or career readiness. Student success is dependent upon
parent participation in school functions and activities. One goal for High Desert Elementary is to
increase parental involvement at the elementary level. This study evaluated the skills,
motivational, and organizational barriers that are associated with the decline in parental
involvement. The proposed solution provides integrated training workshops, online tutorials,
and other ICT resources that provide support for parents, while increasing their self-efficacy.
The solution will assist in providing motivation for parents. This information and training
should be effective in increasing parental involvement.
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Level Four: Results and Leading Indicators
Table 5.4 lists the proposed results and leading indicators for Level 4. The table lists
outcomes, metrics, and methods for both internal and external outcomes for High Desert
Elementary. After receiving training and organizational support, internal outcomes should be
met. As a result, external outcomes should also be achieved.
Table 5.4
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
Increase parental involvement in
district sponsored events.
Increase the number of
parents attending
district or school
events.
Monthly sign in sheets.
Improve communication about
district events and opportunities
for parents online.
The number of parents
joining the district
website.
Monthly registration reports.
Internal Outcomes
Ensure staff members know the
goals for the school regarding
parent involvement and why it is
important.
An increase in parents
involved in the classroom
and school.
Reviewing the goals weekly
and collecting parent
involvement logs from
teachers, school, and sign-ups
online.
Increase parent communication. The number of flyers
printed, visits to the
website, and the number
of parents called.
Track and record the ways
parents receive the
information weekly.
Increase the number of parents
attending school events and
meetings.
The number of parents
that attend the meeting.
Record the number of parents
who attend monthly from sign
in sheets.
Increase parent involvement in
academic areas using
technology.
The number of parents in
attendance at training
sessions or connecting
online.
Review monthly training logs
and a monthly online report.
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Level Three: Behavior
Critical behaviors. The stakeholders of focus in this study, are the parents of students
attending High Desert Elementary. The first critical behavior is that parents should be informed
of parent meetings and invited to attend. The second critical behavior is that parents be in
attendance at the information meeting held at the beginning of the year. Parents can attend by
video conferencing or watch the recorded video online. The third critical behavior is dependent
upon parents completing a parent survey indicating current needs and interests. The last critical
behavior requires the staff to review the survey to identify ways for parents to become involved
and the manner in which communication should occur. Table 5.5 provides more specific details
on the metrics, methods, and timings for each critical behavior.
Table 5.5
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
1. Inform and invite
parents to the parent
meeting at the beginning
of the year.
The number of
parents
contacted and
invited.
1. Keep a log of parents
contacted by
phone/email.
2. Mail a flyer home to
all parents and those
parents that were not
reached by
phone/email (log).
3. Send a reminder
notice to all parents
the week before the
meeting.
1. During the
second week
of August.
2. The week
before the first
day of school.
2. Parents must attend
parent meetings or
training.
The number of
parents in
attendance at the
meeting/training.
1. Have parents sign in.
2. Count the number of
parents in attendance.
When meetings
occur (monthly).
3. Parents must complete
a parent survey for
increasing parental
The number of
completed
surveys
collected.
1. Separate surveys by
complete and
incomplete.
Within one week
of administering
the survey.
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131
involvement
opportunities.
4. School staff will
review surveys and
collect data.
The data
collected from
parent surveys
1. Tally data by item.
2. Look for trends from
each item.
Within one week
of parent survey.
5. The school offers
parents opportunities
based on survey results.
The number of
parents in
attendance.
Parent attendance sign in. Monthly.
Required drivers. Students attending High Desert Elementary require the support of
their parents to ensure academic achievement and success. The school should provide multiple
opportunities for parents and offer training opportunities that will increase self-efficacy and
value. Additionally, parents should be provided with additional support using technology to
enhance parent communication and resources. Table 5.6 highlights the recommended drivers
that support the critical behaviors of parents.
Table 5.6
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors
Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Job aid: List of parental involvement opportunities. At the beginning
of the year
1, 2
Job aid: Flyers, school calendar. Monthly 1, 2
Job aid: Electronic calendar of events online
(website).
Monthly 1, 2
Encouraging
Feedback from parent survey. August 3, 4
School staff collaborates on training workshops
provided to parents based on survey results.
August 4, 5
Rewarding
Increased self-efficacy of parents. Ongoing 5
Increased attendance and involvement from parents
at school/events.
Ongoing monthly 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Increased student success (academic). Ongoing 5
Monitoring
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132
Training opportunities provided for parents
monitored by teachers.
Ongoing 4, 5
Online resources accessed by parents. Ongoing 5
Organizational support. Based on the recommendations in the organizational table,
High Desert Elementary will offer parents opportunities to become involved on a regular basis,
which supports the critical behaviors. At the beginning of the year a parent meeting will be held
to inform parents of High Desert Elementary’s goals and the importance of parent involvement.
At that time, a job aid, a paper with resources or examples, will be provided for them. This
published list will provide all opportunities available for parents to participate in and the skills
required and desired. Parents will also be provided with a monthly school calendar of events.
High Desert Elementary will keep the website updated in a timely manner to reflect those events.
In order to help increase parental involvement, parents will be given the opportunity to
participate in a survey based on parent recommendations for training, or additional parental
involvement opportunities which will include technological resources. This will allow High
Desert Elementary staff the opportunity to organize and design monthly parent training
workshops, tutorials, or resources. Lastly, by attending training workshops or accessing online
technological resources, it will increase parent self-efficacy and parent participation. This also
aligns with the school’s current application to be identified as a STEM school for the state.
Incorporating varied technological resources will help to meet the application requirements.
Level Two: Learning
Learning goals. After completing the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
recommendations, the stakeholders (parents) will be able to:
1. Recognize the importance of parental involvement at the elementary school level and
beyond, and the significance it has regarding academic achievement.
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2. Reference current research that supports parental involvement.
3. Gain and apply skills acquired in parent workshops that will be utilized in the classroom.
4. Keep informed of school events or opportunities.
5. Attend events and other opportunities offered on the school campus in person, or by ICT
resources.
6. Communicate parent needs with school staff.
7. Use technology effectively to assist students with learning.
8. Assess their own learning and ask for help with the more difficult learning concepts or
other academic needs.
Program. The learning goals will be accomplished by offering extensive parent
workshops to parents at the school site. They will focus on parent-suggested topics obtained
from surveys collected at the beginning of the school year. These workshops will focus on the
skills needed to assist students in classroom learning tasks and technology driven
resources. They will provide parents with learning objectives, while building relationships with
the school staff and each other. As a result, parents will obtain knowledge-based skills, while
building relationships and self-confidence. This will help to build community and self-efficacy.
Workshops will be offered monthly for parents after school at convenient times as determined by
the survey results. The workshops will be one hour in length and be organized to build on
previous knowledge. All workshops or trainings will be recorded and uploaded to the Internet
for parents unable to attend in person or for future reference.
Parents will be given a list (job-aid) of parent volunteer opportunities at the beginning of
the school year, as well as a school-wide calendar of events. Calendars will also be sent home to
all parents and will outline different events. This will be in an attempt to communicate more
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effectively with parents. Technology will also be regularly implemented to communicate with
parents regarding students and to keep parents informed of learning taking place in the
classroom. Additional technology platforms will be utilized to assist parents with homework and
provide resources for parents to utilize at home. These ICT resources will include the school
website, ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017), educational websites, online tutorials, a blog, and
other educational resources. Additional resources may include the YouTube channel, online
surveys and sign-ups, as well as selected videos or tutorials. Parent workshops will directly
address skills used in the classroom that meet parent identified needs or requests and will equip
parents and help them to feel more capable.
During parent workshops, parents will be given an educational handout (job aid) that will
outline the specific skills addressed in the workshop. The teachers and staff will highlight the
standards and the importance of the skills taught. These may include parent suggested skills
from the survey and other skills utilized in the classroom, such as: fluency assessment, reading
response, math learning tools, and math strategies. A detailed demonstration of each skill will
follow. While demonstrating the teacher will provide verbal instructions for each skill being
taught. After the demonstration, parents will be given time to practice each skill with a partner,
while receiving verbal instruction simultaneously. After the initial practice session, additional
independent practice will be encouraged. At this time, teachers will walk around and provide
individual constructive feedback or guidance to the parents. This allows them to apply the
learned skills in a safe environment.
At the end of the training the teacher will ask for a volunteer to model the specific task
learned. Other parents will be asked to critique the task or skill and provide constructive
feedback to the volunteer. Upon completion of each parent workshop, participants will be asked
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
135
to complete a short survey on their confidence level in the new skill. This immediate feedback
will be integrated in the planning and delivery for the next parent workshop.
Components of learning. Declarative knowledge is essential to obtain before applying
what they learned in the organizational context. In order to ensure that knowledge was acquired,
it is important to evaluate declarative and procedural knowledge, as well as to determine if the
learning goals were met. The timing and methods for these components are listed in Table 5.7.
Table 5.7
Components of Learning for the Program.
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks using open-ended questions. During the workshop.
Knowledge checks during paired practice
activities.
During the workshop.
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Practice skills learned in the workshop. During the workshop.
Quality of feedback from the teacher during
practice.
During the workshop.
Peer review of individual task demonstration. During the workshop
Reflective survey at the end of the workshop that
demonstrates their self-efficacy.
At the conclusion of the workshop.
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Facilitator observation of parents during the
workshop.
During the workshop.
Survey at the end of the workshop. At the conclusion of the workshop.
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Discussions following discussion and feedback. During/conclusion of the workshop.
Post-assessment at the end of the workshop. At the conclusion of the workshop.
Reflective survey at the end of the training. At the conclusion of the workshop.
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Create an individual parent participation plan. At the conclusion of the workshop.
Create an inventory of skills they learned that
they are comfortable completing independently.
At the end of the academic year during the
final workshop/training offered.
Level One: Reaction
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136
At the conclusion of the parent workshop, parents will evaluate the learning process. The
tools or methods employed to evaluate parents on specific skills learned will occur through direct
instruction, peer feedback, open discussion, direct observation and immediate constructive
feedback. Other evaluation methods will be through brief surveys administered pre- and post-
training.
Level one will include quick checks for understanding of skill knowledge and responses
to the training session. This will be through survey questions and individual observation. Level
two will provide participants with handouts that describe step-by-step instructions and guided
practice while practicing the skill. It will conclude with an independent skill demonstration.
Additional support will be provided with a blog.
Table 5.8
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Survey given to parents about technology and parent
involvement.
Pre-Training
Observation of parents participating in workshop/training by
teacher/facilitator.
Ongoing (Monthly)
Forum responses provided by parents viewing the video
training/workshop.
Ongoing (Weekly)
Attendance of workshop/training by parents (in person or
online).
Ongoing
Workshop/training activities/tasks. During the
workshop/training
Parent Blog. Daily Ongoing
Relevance
Parent survey pre and post-test that determine proficiency and
comfort level of skill being taught in the workshop/training.
Before and after training
Parent workshop/training evaluation for the specific
workshop/training attended.
Conclusion of every
workshop
Customer Satisfaction
Parent post survey about skills acquired, self- efficacy, and
reaction to the workshop/trainings offered.
Conclusion of the school
year
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137
Parent workshop/training survey regarding additional trainings,
questions or suggestions.
Immediately following
each workshop
Evaluation Tools
Program implementation. Immediately following each of the parent workshops,
participants will be given a brief survey or mini-evaluation, that will rate their overall
satisfaction with the workshop and their knowledge of the skills they acquired. This will be
relevant to assess the facilitator’s ability to deliver the content and determine the effectiveness of
the meaning derived by the participants. It will also provide insight about their overall
satisfaction with the training. Since the proposed parent workshops are intended to be delivered
both in person and through an online platform, it is important to consider how to evaluate the
training effectively using the new world Kirkpatrick model.
Level one. Reaction evaluation helps monitor the overall response to the
training/workshops (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). One way to gauge the participants’
overall reaction is with a brief survey and an open discussion forum. This provides an
opportunity for ongoing discussion and an opportunity to gather feedback frequently. It is
important to include questions that are meaningful and will lead to rich discussions (Kirkpatrick
& Kirkpatrick, 2016). A simple survey tool that will be utilized is Google Forms. A discussion
forum will be set up for the school site using Google Forum. This will be used for discussion
and questions that arise for all parent workshops and training. Table 5.9 provides an example of
level 1 survey items to be used following the training. Table 5.10 provides sample forum
questions and discussion topics.
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138
Level two. Learning evaluation will include questions, prompts, activities, and tasks that
require the participants to demonstrate and monitor their understanding and knowledge regarding
the learning objectives (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Survey items will also ask them to
provide feedback on their comfort level in the tasks they acquired, guide future learning, and
assist in planning future trainings and workshops. The tasks or activities suggested to
demonstrate knowledge and understanding can be found in the Table 5.11 below.
Table 5.9
Level One Sample Items on the Course Evaluation Survey
Method(s) or Tool(s) Sample Survey Item
Engagement
Survey given to parents about technology
and parent involvement.
I am comfortable using a technology platform
when learning new skills.
(scale)
Highly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Highly
Disagree
Relevance
Parent workshop/training evaluation for the
specific workshop/training attended.
What I learned from the training will help me
when working with students?
(scale)
Highly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Highly
Disagree
Customer Satisfaction
Parent workshop/training survey regarding
additional trainings, questions or
suggestions.
How comfortable are you in implementing the
skill learned in the workshop/training with
students?
(scale)
Highly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Highly
Disagree
Table 5.10
Sample Items for Forum Questions and Discussion Topics
Method or Tool Sample Survey Item
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139
Engagement
Questions for parents about technology and
parent involvement.
What technology related skills you would like
to learn in a workshop/training session?
(Open ended)
Relevance
Parent workshop/training evaluation for the
specific workshop/training attended.
How can you implement the skills/strategies
taught in the training with students?
(Open ended)
Customer Satisfaction
Parent workshop/training survey regarding
additional trainings, questions or
suggestions.
During the training was there something that
you didn’t understand or need further
clarification on?
(Open ended)
Table 5.11
Level 2 Sample Evaluation Items
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Sample Survey Item or Task
Declarative Knowledge
“I know it.”
Knowledge checks during
paired partner practice
activities.
Teach your partner how to use the new strategy you learned at
this workshop/training.
Procedural Skills “I can
do it right now.”
Peer review of individual
task demonstration.
Provide constructive feedback to your workshop/training partner.
Provide 3 things they did well and one thing that they could
improve on when teaching you how to complete the task or new
skill.
Attitude “I believe this is
worthwhile.”
Survey at the end of the
workshop for parents.
What I learned at the workshop will be beneficial when working
with students.
Highly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Highly Disagree
Confidence “I think I
can do it on the job.”
Post assessment at the end
of the workshop.
At the conclusion of the workshop.
Reflective survey at the
end of the training.
I learned something at this workshop that I will use when
working with students/children.
Highly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Highly Disagree
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Commitment “I will do
it on the job.”
Create an individual
parent participation plan.
Create a document that lists activities that they plan to engage in
and commit to working with students over the next month/school
year.
Delayed period after program implementation. Approximately two weeks after the
first Parent meeting, the leadership will administer an online Likert survey that employs a
blended evaluation approach (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This approach evaluates all four
dimensions at one time, while maximizing data collection (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). This survey will measure the participants’ reaction and the relevance of the training
(level one), their confidence level on what they learned at the training (level two), their ability to
implement what they learned when working in the classroom (level three), and whether the
results of the survey met the objectives of the training and what they have learned in order to
design further workshops (level four).
The survey results will be discussed with teachers and the school leadership to determine
the effectiveness of the training and workshops. The results will also be used to discuss with
parents at future trainings. The survey evaluation and the results will provide administrators
with parent insights and will be helpful in designing a more effective training platform.
Monitoring will occur approximately every four weeks in order to track learning outcomes and
the effectiveness of the trainings. It is ideal to provide the most comprehensive, effective,
practical, and convenient training program to address parent needs and concerns. Table 5.12
provides an example of this survey.
Table 5.12
Delayed Evaluation Sample Survey Items
Sample Item Rating
Level 1: Reaction Highly
Agree
Agree Unsure Disagree Highly
Disagree
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The skills being taught in the
workshop/training addressed my needs.
The technology was easy to use.
Level 2: Learning
I am confident that I can implement the
skills/strategies taught in the
workshop/training.
I understand the importance of the
strategies and skills being taught in the
workshop/training.
Level 3: Behavior
I can apply the strategies and skills
learned at the workshop/training
independently with students.
I am able to use technology utilized in
the workshop/training independently.
Level 4: Results
I have been informed of opportunities
available to help on campus.
The home-school communication
increased my awareness of events and
activities being offered on campus.
I have increased my ability to help
students with the skills/strategies I have
learned.
Technology has increased my ability to
be involved more frequently.
Data Analysis and Reporting
Level four. Results are measured by parent responses to training sessions and by
information gathered from forum and blog posts. After each training, the facilitator will ask
participants to complete an electronic survey that will provide feedback based on parent
participation and learning levels. This will provide direction for additional trainings and help to
better structure the resources provided. This will be utilized to ensure that the facilitator is
monitoring Levels one, two, and three. The survey results will be shared with staff monthly in a
report format. It will provide initial responses to each workshop and training, and other
evaluative data that will be utilized to effectively plan for future training sessions.
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Attendance for parent participation in parent workshop and trainings will be tracked to
determine the number of parents in attendance and determine which workshops and trainings had
the highest attendance rate. It will be important to evaluate and discuss with the staff what may
have impacted the attendance. In addition to tracking and monitoring the attendance of the
workshops and trainings offered on campus, it will be important to track the number of times the
training videos were accessed online, and the number of individuals who watched them. This
will be reported monthly on a graph to faculty and staff, and will be instrumental in evaluating
the effectiveness of using technology to increase parental involvement.
The forum posts will be monitored weekly, if not daily by the leadership at High Desert
Elementary. At the end of the week a report will be generated to total the number of responses to
topic questions and posts based on each unique user identification. This will provide data on
parents’ initial responses to topics and trainings presented both on campus and online.
At the end of the school year all data will be compiled on a spreadsheet. This will be
used to evaluate the effectiveness of each workshop and training, the forum and blog posts, and
the attendance of all parents. It will be utilized to pre-plan for important topics next year and
how to further increase parental involvement based on feedback provided by parents.
Challenges
Although the principal of the school is highly supportive of the changes needed to take
place, there are some anticipated challenges. High Desert Elementary is going through several
changes this year. The school boundaries have changed and the school is losing one-third of
their teaching staff. This has fostered a sense of insecurity amongst some of the staff and
uncertainty about their placement. This changes the dynamics of the organization and the
commitment level of the staff, which impacts buy in, motivation, and utility value.
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In addition to the staff changes, the school has applied to be identified as a STEM school
for the state, which provides additional challenges in technology and the implementation of
technology into the daily routines and procedures of the organization. This could potentially
interfere with the parent participation goal and the implementation of the recommendations due
to not having enough resources to implement both. This could mean revising the current goal to
increase parent participation by 2020, to a later identified date. This could also imply that the
organization will need to identify priorities after all changes and programs are implemented.
Other challenges include push back or lack of buy in from the staff. Although, these
resources are not new, they are not being currently utilized in this school. ues10If some of the
staff at High Desert Elementary are unwilling to use alternative technology resources in their
classroom or at school to increase parent participation at school events, meetings, and for
communication, it will not meet the needs of the school or satisfy the recommendations. It is
important that all teachers agree to the plan for increasing parent involvement, otherwise the
school will be divided and will not reach their desired goals. It is important to be unified and
foster positive moral.
Future Research
Future research should focus on how to provide different parental involvement
opportunities for parents that include ICT. Further study should be conducted on how parents
are communicated with, in order to determine the effectiveness of each. Additional surveys
should be conducted to determine what kinds of technology can be incorporated at the school site
and how it will benefit the students. Additionally, since parents are interested in training and
workshop opportunities, parents should be surveyed to identify what specific skills or concepts
should be considered and to identify any experts in a particular area that may be included to lead
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
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a workshop. After each training or workshop is conducted, parent feedback should be gathered
to determine the benefit and reaction to each opportunity presented. Other topics to explore
further are how parents are involved online. Parent involvement should be monitored on blogs,
video posts, and school website to determine the amount of parent involvement and overall
participation. Parents surveys should also be conducted to determine the overall effectiveness of
these ICT resources. Lastly, teachers should also be interviewed to determine the amount of
time that is involved with creating ICT opportunities for parents and how they have incorporated
ICT to increase parent involvement.
Current Implementation and Priorities
High Desert Elementary School, had several recommendations that were of high priority.
The first was to effectively communicate with parents about learning being conducted in the
classroom, upcoming events, and student progress. This was also identified by an earlier OHI
survey administered by the district. They survey indicated that the staff scored low in
collaboration, moral, and problem solving. The staff began to collaborate on how to create a
clear direction and focus for the school and how to increase parent involvement through
communication. It was determined that the school would use current resources in a unified
manner to connect with parents. All teachers were asked to communicate with parents on
ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017) and to keep parents updated about events, classroom
discussions, learning, and other important information. ClassDojo (Class Twist Inc., 2017)
became more than a teacher’s behavior management tool, it became a tool used for immediate
and constant communication. Each teacher was responsible for adding parents to the Dojo and
posting weekly newsletters and events. Additionally, training was offered to teachers who were
unfamiliar with the application during a staff training meeting. Additional help was provided to
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
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the parents by teachers. A sign-up was encouraged at the Back-to-School Bash. Parents who
signed up could enter a raffle for a gift basket.
Another immediate priority is to address parent needs and concerns indicated on the
survey conducted in November. Another survey will be sent to all parents before the end of the
school year to identify other areas parents are interested in gaining training and to determine
other applications that will be utilized in the coming school year. These priorities should focus
on providing parents with online access to videos and tutorials on learning taking place in the
classroom and alternative ways to attend meetings and events at school. From there
collaboration and planning should take place to ensure that all stakeholders voices are heard and
to determine expectations and feasibility. As well as to create a list of upcoming opportunities
for parents to become involved.
Conclusion
Parent involvement continues to decline at the elementary school level (Colombo, 2006;
Jeynes, 2005). As parents find it increasingly difficult to get involved due to personal, cultural,
and economic reasons, it is important innovate new ways for parents to participate. Incorporating
technology to increase parent participation proposes to do that. By implementing interviews and
surveys, as well as a series of workshop, trainings, and technology platforms, High Desert
Elementary hopes to reach the organizational goal of increasing parental involvement 50% by
the year 2020. One way to ensure that organizational outcomes and goals are being met is to
implement the new world Kirkpatrick model. This model provides organizations with a
comprehensive program to design and implement a training program for parents using data
collection. Gathering data and analyzing it along the way is more effective than waiting until a
program is complete to realize that something didn’t work or went terribly wrong (Kirkpatrick &
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
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Kirkpatrick, 2016). For each level, it is important to evaluate if you are meeting the specific
targets from the leading indicators. At each step of the way, you should ask Kirkpatrick’s (2016)
key data analysis questions, “Does this meet expectations? If not, why not? and If so, why?”
(p.122). This will ensure that the program outcomes are being met (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016).
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APPENDIX A
Parent Involvement Survey
This survey will be used to determine how we can use technology to facilitate parent
involvement. Thank you for taking this survey. It may be discontinued at any time. All responses
are recorded anonymously.
1. Please select your age category that describes you.
Mark only one oval.
§ 18-24
§ 25-30
§ 31-35
§ 36-40
§ 41-45
§ 46-50
§ Other:
2. What is your ethnic background?
Check all that apply.
§ Hispanic/Latino
§ Asian/Pacific Islander
§ African American/Black
§ Native American
§ Caucasian
§ Other:
What is your highest level of education?
Mark only one oval.
§ Some High School
§ Diploma/GED
§ Trade School
§ Some College
§ Associate Degree
§ Bachelor's Degree
§ Graduate Degree
What is your annual income?
Mark only one oval.
§ Under $20,000
§ $20,000-$30,000
§ $30,000-$40,000
§ $40,000-$50,000
§ Above $50,000
5. How many children do you have enrolled in elementary school?
6. What grade is/are your child/children in? (mark all that apply)
Check all that apply.
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§ Kindergarten
§ First Grade
§ Second Grade
§ Third Grade
§ Fourth Grade
§ Fifth Grade
§ Sixth Grade
7. How often do you meet in person with the teachers at your child’s school?
(Please focus on your oldest child.)
Mark only one oval.
§ I have not met with my child's teacher
§ Once or twice per year
§ Once a month
§ 2-3 times per month
§ Once a week
§ 2-3 times per week
§ Daily
8. When do those meetings most often take place?
Mark only one oval.
§ Before School
§ During School
§ After School
§ Other:
9. How often are you able to directly contact your child’s teacher?
Mark only one oval.
§ Never (I am unable to reach or meet with them)
§ Almost never (25% of the time)
§ Sometimes (50% of the time)
§ Almost always (75% of the time)
§ Always (100% of the time)
10. How promptly do the teachers respond to your communication with them?
Mark only one oval.
§ Within 1-2 hours
§ In the same day
§ Within 1-2 days
§ Within the week
§ They don’t respond
11. What other ways do you communicate with your child’s teacher or their
school?
Check all that apply.
§ Written letter or notes
§ Telephone
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§ Text
§ Email
§ ClassDojo
§ Other:
12. What are the reasons that you communicate with your child’s teacher or
school? (Check all that apply)
Check all that apply.
§ I haven’t
§ Health concern (illness, absence, medical concerns)
§ Homework (instructions, help, or due date)
§ Behavior (inside the classroom, or at school)
§ Academic concern (grades, report card, conference, or struggles/concerns)
§ Legal (paperwork, IEP, 504, vital communication, permission slips)
§ Other:
13. What types of technology do you use?
Check all that apply.
§ Computer (laptop, desktop)
§ Tablet (iPad, Kindle, etc.)
§ Cell phone (smart phone or smart device)
§ Other:
14. How often do you use a computer outside of school?
Mark only one oval.
§ Not every day
§ 1-5 times per day
§ 5-10 times per day
§ More than 10 times per day
15. How likely would you be to use a computer to communicate with your
child’s teacher regarding an academic concern or homework help?
Mark only one oval.
§ Highly likely (I would definitely use it or have)
§ Somewhat likely (I may use it)
§ Neutral (I am unsure)
§ Somewhat unlikely (I probably wouldn’t use it)
§ Unlikely (I would not or haven’t used it)
16. How comfortable would you be using a platform like Skype or video
conferencing to discuss an academic concern or to seek help with homework?
Mark only one oval.
§ Highly comfortable (I would definitely use it)
§ Somewhat comfortable (I would likely use it)
§ Neutral (I am not sure if I would or wouldn’t use it)
§ Somewhat uncomfortable (I most likely would not use it)
§ Highly uncomfortable (I definitely wouldn’t use it)
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17. How likely would you be to watch or access videos or tutorials for concepts
taught in the classroom?
Mark only one oval.
§ Highly likely (I would attend)
§ Somewhat likely (I would likely attend)
§ Neutral (I am not sure if I would attend)
§ Somewhat unlikely (I most likely would not attend)
§ Highly unlikely (I definitely wouldn’t attend)
18. How comfortable would you be interacting with an online blog to assist with
homework or other educational topics?
Mark only one oval.
§ Highly comfortable (I would definitely use it)
§ Somewhat comfortable (I would likely use it)
§ Neutral (I am not sure if I would or wouldn’t use it)
§ Somewhat uncomfortable (I most likely would not use it)
§ Highly uncomfortable (I definitely wouldn’t use it)
19. How likely is it that you would attend training for new technology or
programs at your child’s school?
Mark only one oval.
§ Highly likely (I would attend)
§ Somewhat likely (I would likely attend)
§ Neutral (I am not sure if I would attend)
§ Somewhat unlikely (I most likely would not attend)
§ Highly unlikely (I definitely wouldn’t attend)
20. What kind of technology training would you be interested in attending?
Mark all that apply.
Check all that apply.
§ iPad use
§ Basic laptop or computer use
§ Application usage
§ Skype
§ Other:
21. What kinds of new resources would you like to be implemented at your
child’s school that could be facilitated by communicative or technological
resources?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
159
APPENDIX B
Interview Protocol
“I would like to thank you for your participation in the interview today. The purpose of this
interview is to determine how parents are involved at High Desert Elementary and factors that
impede or encourage involvement. Additionally, I would like to determine how technology is
used for communication and how technology can enhance parent involvement. Before I begin
the interview, I would like to inform you that your participation is voluntary, and you may decide
to stop the interview at any time. All information obtained in the interview will be anonymously
recorded. I will use pseudo names for all individuals participating. I would like to record the
interview to ensure that I accurately capture what is said, so that there is no misrepresentation.
The recording will be used to transcribe the interview and when finished with the transcription, it
will be destroyed. Are there any objections to recording? If not please sign this participant
consent form, which indicates that I am recording the interview and that you have provided me
with permission to do so. The consent form also indicates that you are willingly participating in
the interview and that you may discontinue participation at any time.” (Pass out form & collect)
“Thank you for your participation.”
“I will be asking a series of questions. If at any time, you do not understand you may ask me to
repeat or rephrase the question. You may also choose not to answer a question. Please tell me if
there is a question that you do not want to answer. Lastly, I ask that we respect everyone and
allow others to finish their thoughts before beginning to speak. This will ensure that everyone is
heard and feels respected.”
“Any questions? Let’s begin.”
Background Questions:
1. How long have you had children attending High Desert Elementary?
2. How many children do you have attending High Desert Elementary?
3. What is your highest level of education?
4. What is your ethnic background?
5. Do you currently work?
6. What is your current position?
7. How many languages do you speak? What are they?
8. How does your child get to school?
•
School and Climate Questions:
9. Do you feel welcome at your child’s school?
• If so, what makes you feel that way?
• If not, what could be done to change that?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
160
10. Tell me about your parent involvement experiences?
• Why did you participate in this activity?
• How much time do you typically spend at school?
• Who do you communicate with?
• What do you talk about?
• What kinds of activities do you engage in?
• What activities do you prefer?
11. Can you describe how parents are involved at the elementary school level?
• Can you describe some of the parent involvement opportunities at your child’s
school?
• Are there any opportunities you would like to see offered at your child’s school?
• Can you describe an experience you have had?
• Can you describe a negative experience you have had?
12. How are you informed of parent involvement opportunities at your child’s school?
• Do you have suggestions for better ways to communicate any future
opportunities?
13. Tell me a little about the relationship you have with your child’s teacher. Could you
describe the relationship with your child’s teacher? Please focus on your oldest child.
• How are you involved in the classroom?
• Can you tell me how you feel about your involvement?
• How would you like to be further involved?
14. Can you describe how the school communicates with you?
• Do you have any suggestions on how to improve or increase communication?
• What communication methods do you feel are ineffective?
• Now, could you tell me which methods you feel are effective.
15. Are you currently involved at your child’s school?
• How are you involved? What activities or events are you involved in?
• How often?
• Are there additional ways you would like to become involved?
16. Is there anything that prevents you from being involved as much as you would feel is
ideal? If so, what is it?
• What do you think keeps parents from becoming involved?
Technology Questions:
17. What kinds of technology do you currently use at home?
• Can you describe how you currently use it and what you use it for?
18. Does your child use technology at home?
• If so, what is their primary use?
• Do they use technology to complete homework or classroom assignments?
• How much time is spent using technology at home?
19. Would you consider using an online platform to interact with your child’s teacher?
• How would it be beneficial?
• If not, why?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT & ICT
161
20. Would you attend meetings or other school events by Skype or another live face-to face
platform?
21. Would you find it beneficial for your child’s teacher to post online tutorials or other
educational resources for reinforcing the concepts taught in the classroom?
22. What kinds of technology do you think could be utilized for parental involvement?
• Can you describe what that may look like?
• Can you provide an example of how that would help you?
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
While parent involvement has been a topic of study for years, there continues to be a steady decline at the elementary school level, despite decades of research that confirms parent involvement is directly related to academic success. This mixed-methods study utilizes the Clark and Estes’ gap analysis framework to explore the knowledge, motivation, and organizational needs that are required to be implemented to increase parent participation at High Desert Elementary by 50% utilizing innovative technology resources, also known as ICT. Analysis of data collected from surveys, one-on-one interviews, observations, and artifacts revealed that parents need effective and consistent communication, access to resources using technology, activities that provide parent choice, access to workshops designed to increase self-efficacy, and additional parental involvement opportunities and resources that focus on innovation. Lastly, to address these knowledge, motivational, and organizational needs, it will be necessary to design effective solutions that may disrupt the current culture of the school and may be unconventional. It is essential that all solutions are designed and planned in collaboration with parents.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Runcorn, Tena Marie
(author)
Core Title
Innovative parental involvement: Utilizing information and communication technologies to increase parental involvement
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Leadership)
Publication Date
05/07/2018
Defense Date
03/21/2018
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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(digital)
Tag
collaboration,ICT,innovation,innovative,OAI-PMH Harvest,parent involvement,Technology
Format
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Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Maddox, Anthony (
committee chair
), Datta, Monique (
committee member
), Lillo, Sarah (
committee member
)
Creator Email
Runcorn@usc.edu,Runcoti@aol.com
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Tags
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parent involvement