Date of Award

2011

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

School of Education

Abstract

In 2001, Public Law 107-110, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, mandated that public schools become accountable for the achievement of all public school students. Included in Public Law 107-110 is a section that mandates that schools involve parents in the functioning of the institution and that parents be involved in their child's education. Schools have been utilizing Internet Facilitated Communication (IFC) to facilitate parent involvement within the school community.

This dissertation concentrates on parent-teacher communication specifically as it pertains to student achievement. This study examined the ways parents and teachers utilize electronic communication to invite one another to participate in activities designed for student academic achievements. The study also concentrated on the ways parents and teachers communicate, and the frequency of internet facilitated communication. Three themes emerged from the analysis of the results of this study. Classroom teachers predominantly use non-electronic communication means with the parents of their students. Teachers use electronic communication methods to a much lesser degree than non-electronic communication methods. Parents also predominantly use traditional, non-electronic communication forms with classroom teachers.

Schools continue to explore different methods of engaging parents in partnership activities that provide academic support for students. The standards found in Public Law 107-110 require that schools involve parents in the planning and implementation activities designed to improve student academic achievements. Schools are also mandated to implement programs designed to lessen parental obstacles and enhance parental participation in partnership activities. Constraints on time and doubts regarding self-efficacy skills exist for some parents currently not involved in home-school relationships. To introduce new programs intended to persuade uninvolved parents to participate in school activities, it is prudent to further develop the collaboration methods already in place in the school community such as Internet Facilitated Communication.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS