Parental Collaboration Recommendations for Improvement

IMPROVING STUDENTS AND FAMILY’S ENGAGEMENT

Recommendations for Improving Parental Collaboration at Marion P Thomas Charter School District Performing Art & Culinary Academy

ABSTRACT

This study offers recommendations to the leadership at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. The problem is the lack of parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. The central research question was how parental collaboration could be improved at Marion P. Even though there are multiple challenges connected with parental engagement in education, educators and parents have a positive and harmonious opinion on the importance of involvement.

To address the problem, multimethod data analysis was used. It included interviews, surveys, and document analysis. Thematic analysis and SPSS were used to analyze the data. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. To achieve this, Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy stakeholders should initiate a strengthened partnership between the parents and schools; however, they must establish firm structures to sustain it. This initiative can be started by any stakeholder group but sustained by a comprehensive engagement and school leadership commitment. Proper activities to engage communities and parents embrace partnership philosophy.

Finally, Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy and the parents should embrace technology to facilitate and support their relationship. Both in-person and online channels can enhance clear communication. These may include using social media outlets, school websites, and email distribution systems to keep parents engaged in their children\\\\\\\'s progress at School.

Table of Contents

Contents

ABSTRACT 3

Table of Contents 4

List of Tables 6

List of Figures 7

List of Abbreviations 8

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 9

Overview 9

Background. 9

The Organizational Profile 15

Problem Statement 15

Purpose Statement 17

Definitions 19

Summary 20

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 22

Overview 22

Theoretical Framework 23

Theory of Planned Behavior 23

Sociocultural Theory 24

The Theory of Street-Level Bureaucracy 24

Related Literature 25

Summary 39

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 41

Overview 41

Research Design 41

Research Questions 42

Setting 42

Participants 43

The researcher\\\\\\\'s role 44

Procedures 45

Data Collection and Analysis 45

Interviews 45

Interview Questions 46

Survey Procedures 49

Demographic Questions 50

Survey Questions 51

Document Analysis 54

Ethical Considerations 55

Summary 55

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS 57

Overview 57

Findings for Qualitative Interviews 57

Survey Results 60

Document Analysis Results 62

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 63

Overview 63

Restatement of the Problem 63

Proposed Solution to the Central Question 64

Resources Needed 65

Funds Needed 65

Roles and Responsibilities. 65

Solution Implications 65

Evaluation Plan 66

Summary. 66

References 69

APPENDIX or APPENDICES 74

Demographic Questions 74

Survey Questions 74

List of Tables

Table 1. Frequency Codes…………………………………………………………………………………….58

Table 2. Parent/Guardian Level of Agreement for Each Survey Item. …………61

List of Figures

Fig 1. Demographics of qualitative interview participants……………………59

List of Abbreviations

P.C.A…………. …...Performing Art & Culinary Academy

M.P.T.C.S…………Marion P. Thomas Charter School

I.E.P ………………Individualized Education Program.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Overview

This study provides recommendations to the leadership at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. This introduction covers the background of the problem, the organizational profile, problem statement, its importance, and the study\\\\\\\'s purpose. The primary research question is presented, and this section will also enclose a list of frequently used terms with definitions.

Background

Different situations influence the lives of school children, and sometimes by lack of collaboration between teachers, parents, school counselors, and politicians on how to deal with and prioritize different kinds of challenges that relate to social life within the school. A deliberate involvement of parents can be treated as the answer to such challenges; however, parental involvement can also, in some cases, be criticized for changing the focus of the school\\\\\\\'s social norms to an individual child\\\\\\\'s family life (Winthrop et al. 2021). In this paper, we focus on enhancing parental collaboration, providing opportunities for enhancing every child\\\\\\\'s school life experience, and solving some of these historical problems.

During a debate about the involvement of parents in school affairs, parents are usually seen as parties competing over their performance and professional resources as \\\\\\\"good parents.\\\\\\\" As a result, this opaques parents\\\\\\\' shared interests and concerns founded on their children\\\\\\\'s daily lives in the everyday learning societies and their contribution to those societies (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). In other words, during discussions on parental collaboration, intersubjective links in students learning institutions that can otherwise enable parental focus on common interests of students in the same institution are overlooked.

To establish how parents\\\\\\\' collaboration and participation in children\\\\\\\'s school life are linked, we review the concept of \\\\\\\"Social practice.\\\\\\\" According to social practice perspectives, people who contribute to children\\\\\\\'s education should be linked to their participation in shared concerns and matters (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). For instance, the social practice concept proposes that even though the analysis of parental collaboration may be in terms of regulation, it can also be treated as an opportunity for solidarity in solving school problems.

Subsequently, parental collaboration is interpreted as a societal, multifaceted concern discussed and represented from diverse views, partly due to historical differences. According to Ule, Živoder & du Bois-Reymond (2015), the heightening parental participation entangled the processes of familiarization and institutionalization. In other words, success in school enhances value in students\\\\\\\' life course path (institutionalization); equally, the school allocates responsibilities for this success to children themselves and their families (familiarization) (Winthrop et al. 2021). For instance, in Denmark, the \\\\\\\"Act on increased parental responsibility from 2006\\\\\\\" principal aims to strengthen and clarify parental responsibilities and general duties according to their children\\\\\\\'s school lives and learning (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). Another objective is to support vulnerable children by entrusting their parents\\\\\\\' responsibility.

Consequently, the historical parental responsibility changes follow the expert advice and rules by defining what it means to be a collaborative and responsible parent. According to recent studies, the boundaries between parents\\\\\\\' and schools\\\\\\\' responsibilities have changed towards heightened responsibilities of parents. Also, the emphasis on the value of parental upbringing and support of children\\\\\\\'s achievements and learning has resulted in several interventions that include parents in multiple partnership platforms when students undergo a challenge in school. Further research has confirmed that such interventions of parents\\\\\\\' participation contribute a tangible impact on their children\\\\\\\'s achievement in school.

Besides, earlier research studies focused on explicit or implicit expectations that parents face, and they strive to be regarded as responsible. According to Crozier, Reay, and James (2011), middle-class parents\\\\\\\' involvement is key to transmitting and reproducing parents\\\\\\\' middle-class privileges to their children, regardless of their intentions. On the other hand, parental collaboration is more linked to fundamental communal conflicts and problems. Such conflicts go beyond the immediate relation between the professionals and parents and cannot be tackled through contracts, courses, or communicative systems alone.

In addition, about education, there is a trend to adopt, for example, dialogue techniques, criteria for training parents how to converse with their children, and written consensus between parents and officials to tackle challenges or clarify expectations relating to contributions of those engaged. In most instances, parents are seen as the problem to be tackled; as a result, school dilemmas might be displaced onto the students\\\\\\\' family background.

On the other hand, parental collaboration refers to the general collaboration between all professionals in school and all the parents (Winthrop et al., 2021). However, it is usually confined to debate about intergenerational transmission and social background shortcomings of the parents, with collaboration being performed and understood as a form of compensatory plan to enable parents the lives of their children in school. Such discussion accentuates the dilemma of realizing the links between various (unequal) situations of varying family lives and situated challenges in schools. As a result, parental collaboration relates to a diverse form of thinking and understanding children\\\\\\\'s success in school as closely associated with the family background and connected with social control, compensative interventions, and social help.

According to Bourdieu Lareau (2019), social class influences the cultural logic of child-rearing, with \\\\\\\'combined cultivation\\\\\\\' used by middle-class parents. The child-rearing techniques of the poor or working-class parents become unfortunate for their children as far as their school life is concerned. For example, according to Lareau\\\\\\\'s findings, parents from families that are working-class do not encourage their children to involve in conversation that encourages negotiation and reasoning and fail to make their children feel special (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). Such parents failed to teach the impression that their children\\\\\\\'s opinions should be developed and cultivated. Furthermore, they failed to monitor and direct their children\\\\\\\'s leisure activities continuously. Therefore, social class is established to create different styles of parenting indeed. As a result, a close association between students\\\\\\\' position in class and the unequal outcomes of their experiences as they socialize with professionals outside the homes.

A critical perspective is established on the connection between inequality and social class concerning the above findings. Inequality relates to various parenting styles and the transmission of class background. Also, the general focus is how parents unwillingly or willingly transfer cultural practices to their children that influence their accomplishments in school (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). Lareau further points out that very little is known about the extent to which children copy and utilize their parents\\\\\\\' beliefs, hence, urging for a more dynamic method of child-parent interaction. Therefore, subjectivity seems to be associated with appropriation norms and culture, skills, and values (Winthrop et al., 2021). In this approach, the subjectivity concept does not seem essential; however, it appears to be linked to the acquisition of culture and transfer of social class policies. Moreover, the family\\\\\\\'s culture is exceptionally unambiguously distanced from the school culture. As a result, the school is presumed to be part of the problem; however, it still has a relatively homogeneous culture.

Therefore, parental collaboration could be treated as the answer to such questions as a criterion of organizing interaction and coordination between those engaged, and opening for the transfer of knowledge about students\\\\\\\' interplay, situations in school, and parental contribution to the school, other than singling out individuals. Furthermore, parental collaboration can also be treated as a technique to govern parents, worsening school life inequalities.

Conversely, parental collaboration may seem to be a new form of regulation; otherwise, it can also be treated as a sign of understanding that multiple social norms are connected and that collaboration is a social necessity. In addition, Epstein, 2001, 2010, also agrees with the finding that there is a direct association between families and the school in accordance to the success of children in school. Subsequently, the recent shift on criteria of connecting schools with families avails an opportunity to markedly refocus broader approaches and the general vision for more extended collaboration. (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019) Accordingly, family-school engagement, particularly collaboration between several actors from teachers and school leaders to community members and parents, have a critical role in transforming and improving the education system to achieve: attendance and completion of students, learning and development of students, redefine the purpose of school for students, and to redefine the purpose of school for the society.

Moreover, significant evidence indicates that family-school engagement can robustly enhance how systems serve their students, particularly those poorly served prior. Studies that evaluate school improvement have checked at students\\\\\\\' educational results as gauged by completion, an achievement on literacy, attendance, numeracy, and other regularly evaluated competencies. These efforts are classified as system improvement because they enhance how systems deliver education against the founded set of results, rather than refocusing the general vision and purpose of the system (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). Consequently, such studies established that it becomes a highly cost-effective investment that boosts students\\\\\\\' results when family-school engagement is implemented appropriately.

Schools usually engage parents through consultation and communication before decision making, support for home-based studies, and family opportunities at school. Close to over fifty decades of research has established that parent involvement robustly contributes to better student outcomes. The evidence is positive, convincing, and consistent. Hence, a demonstration of family influence on their children\\\\\\\'s achievement in learning institutions and through life.

After comparing multiple varying works of literature, Amendt (2019) established that a greater connection between parents and educators takes place in phases along a progression, not a singular occurrence. The initial stage is \\\\\\\"informing,\\\\\\\" indicating a one-way flow of communication from school to parents and students. This approach contradicts the two-way communication model that is meaningful between teachers and parents.

Subsequently, According to Amendt, (2019), the following two stages, \\\\\\\'involving\\\\\\\' and \\\\\\\'engaging,\\\\\\\' have essential distinctions as involvement indicates an invitation to parents to endorse a plan developed by the staff. In contrast, a plan is created by parents, community members, students, and staff members (together) through engagement. They make decisions and take action together as a team. According to Amendt\\\\\\\'s (2019) findings, involvement is marred by limited trust, while engagement creates a higher level of trust. Leading occurs when parties have established a policy of engagement with all stakeholders playing good leadership roles to achieve the shared vision. Amendt (2019) interviewed parents and faculty at a school established that both the groups had invested effort to develop a foundation of goodwill and corporation that enabled their relation to build high leveled trust.

The Organizational Profile

The chosen educational site for this study was Marion P. Thomas Charter School (M.P.T.C.S.), Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.). This district is public. As per the district website, this district consists of three school locations in the urban areas of Newark, New Jersey. The mission of the district is \\\\\\\"By every means necessary; our mission is to be a 21st century Village responsive to the needs of students, parents, staff, and the Newark community-at-large, where scholars become ready for colleges, careers, and life.\\\\\\\" The districts include P.A.C. (Performing Arts & Culinary) Academy serving Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade, 578 students are attending. The student population size is approximately 473 students. The P.A.C. Academy demographic includes 89% African- American, 7% Hispanic, 2% Native American, 0.3% Caucasian, 0.7% two or more races. The gender of the students includes 257 males and 216 females. Within P.A.C. Academy, there are 37 teachers with a Student/Teacher Ratio 17:1. For this study, P.A.C. Academy will be the focus of this assignment. The P.A.C. school leadership team consists of the principal, the operational manager, two vice principals, and two deans. P.A.C. Academy Student support consists of two Deans, two Vice principals, a Social Worker, and a Family Liaison.

Problem Statement

The problem is the lack of parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. Even though there are multiple challenges connected with parental engagement in education, both the educators and parents have a positive and harmonious opinion on the importance of involvement. Parental engagement is an essential factor in endorsing students\\\\\\\' learning and future success. Prior research studies have argued that it is partly due to differences in educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' role actions. Therefore, to overcome the challenge to parental collaboration, teachers\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' beliefs about involvement must be understood by both parties.

Furthermore, According to Stroetinga et al., 2019, \\\\\\\"Several studies indicate that the academic success of children benefits from teacher-parent contact…Benefits are, among others, demonstrated by improved grades\\\\\\\" (Stroetinga et al., 2019, p. 654). However, irrespective of clear parental involvement benefits, several barriers limit parents\\\\\\\' capacity to collaborate in their children\\\\\\\'s education. Schools, parents, and even educators can knowingly or unknowingly create and reinforce these barriers. Notably, one of the common reasons for the failure of parents to be involved is a cultural difference between teachers and parents. Dissimilar values and norms can result in miscommunication, tension, and mistrust. This occurs whenever the school staff fails to create clear guidelines and expectations.

For example, before the Covid-19 pandemic, parents lacked involvement with the student\\\\\\\'s education. Due to the pandemic, parents were forced to interact with the students and their learning activities while at home. Consequently, studies indicated that students\\\\\\\' grades, attendance, and test results improved when parents got involved in their education. Moreover, according to Epstein, 2018, Parents play a significant role in the culture and climate of the school (Epstein, 2018, p. 400).

At Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy, there is an established student support team consisting of the two Deans of Student, a Social Worker, and a Family Engagement Coordinator that leads on the involvement approach with other stakeholders. However, the students\\\\\\\' support team members have been experiencing challenges with their collaborative effort. The challenges include power struggles of staff and families, lack of communication, and lack of collaboration. To address the identified problem, the student support utilizes their resources to increase Parent and Teacher collaboration. The Student Support team hosted family events (both virtual and in-person), completed a rotation of calls, and tried to communicate via electronic communication (calls, messages, emails, and app) and paper communication (letters and flyers) (Johnson, 2019). Nevertheless, the problem is still present, and this study will provide recommendations to improve parental collaboration.

Purpose Statement

This study gives recommendations to the leadership at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. This applied research study used both qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches. This includes an interview section of the student support team members: both deans, a social worker, a vice-principal, and the family liaison, the first approach. The second approach was a survey sent via email and text messages; the participants included school staff and parents. The third data collection method was document analysis. Conducted internal control checks as part of the inspection team\\\\\\\'s duties was necessary to investigate a wide range of documents and program plans; attendance records, report cards, ClassDojo reports and parent-teacher conference (P.T.A.) notes; and discussions of child study team tasked with verifying the integration of Individualized Education Program I.E.P.

Significance of the Problem

There are numerous benefits of increased collaboration with school organizations and families. Some benefits include increased academic performance, increased mental health stability, a rise in graduation rates, decreased substance abuse, and decreased behavioral infractions. According to the journal, \\\\\\\"Strengthening and constantly improving relationships, and collaboration between parents and teachers is essential for the personal and academic growth of learners… lower rates of grade retention and school dropouts, learner absenteeism, as well as a decrease in unruly conduct\\\\\\\" (Mende et al., 2020 p. 14). In addition to the benefits of the student and their families, collaboration can also have a positive impact at the organization level. Establishing parental involvement also helps at the school level with the increase in test scores, student, and staff retention, lessens stress for both staff and parents, and increases in funding for the school and the community. This can create a desirable community where residents want to live; property values increase. It would also attract businesses and companies, increase community revenue, provide employment opportunities, and make the community a perfect location for former students to live (Sipple et al., 2019).

Research Questions

Primary Research Question: How can the practice of parent collaboration be improved at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Sub-question 1: what is the role of teachers at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy in enhancing parental collaboration?

Sub-question 2: Does a parent\\\\\\\'s financial background influence their parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Sub-question 3: what are the roles of parents in promoting parental collaboration at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Definitions

1. Parent -the term \\\\\\\"parent\\\\\\\" includes a legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives or a person who is legally responsible for the child\\\\\\\'s welfare). (Batista, 2019).

2. Parenting knowledge and skills -as measures that directly assess the extent to which a parent reports that they know parenting practices, appropriate expectations of child behavior, and a skill set to draw from to deliver appropriate and effective parenting knowledge and skills or beliefs about parenting skills or behaviors (Armstrong, et al., 2017).

3. Teacher Effectiveness - The method

of how a teacher can enhance student learning and accomplishment by utilizing strategies, approaches, links to students, and a particular set of attitudes that lead (Stronge et al., 2017).

4. Parental well-being -defined as any assessment of the incarcerated parent\\\\\\\'s broader psychological well-being (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, or quality of life) or stress relating specifically to their role as a parent (Armstrong et al., 2017).

5. English Language Learn (E.L.L.) – An initial and ongoing assessment of a student learning English as a second language (Bailey & Carroll, 2016).

6. Accommodations - are classroom techniques or materials used to help struggling students work around difficulties (Barrow & Markman-Pithers, 2016).

7. Parental Involvement - support children\\\\\\\'s learning in traditional schools and learning courses (Amini, 2018).

8. Assessment - describes the variation of methods or devices that educators use to

measure, evaluate, and document the educational readiness, learning progress, skill

acquisition, or educational needs of students.\\\\\\\" (Glossary of Education Reform, 2016).

9. Quality of the parent-child relationship - defined as direct measures based on the observational rating of the relationship, parent report of the quality of the relationship, or indirect measures of quality, such as frequency of contact (Armstrong et al., 2017).

10. Academic achievement- demonstrated that academic encouragement and talking to parents about important life issues and academic support led to greater student homework completion frequency. In turn, the frequency of homework completion promoted more extraordinary academic achievement and lower dropout rates (Boonk, L et al., 2018, p. 15).

Summary

Even though there are multiple challenges connected with parental engagement in education, both the educators and parents have a positive and harmonious opinion on the importance of involvement. Parental engagement is an essential factor in endorsing students\\\\\\\' learning and future success. Irrespective of this, educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' opinions on parental collaboration across both school and home environments. Prior research studies have argued that it is partly due to differences in educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' role actions. Therefore, to overcome the challenge to parental collaboration, teachers\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' beliefs about involvement must be understood by both parties.

Consequently, the purpose of this study was to provide recommendations to the leadership team at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. This applied research study used both qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches.

Finally, establishing parental involvement would help at the school level with the increase in test scores, student, and staff retention, lessens stress for both staff and parents, and increases in funding for the school and the community. This can create a desirable community where residents want to live; property values increase. It would also attract businesses and companies, increase community revenue, provide employment opportunities, and make the community a perfect location for former students to live.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Overview

The purpose of this study was to provide recommendations to the leadership team at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. Subsequently, the problem is the lack of parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. Even though there are multiple challenges connected with parental engagement in education, both the educators and parents have a positive and harmonious opinion on the importance of involvement. Parental engagement is an essential factor in endorsing students\\\\\\\' learning and future success. Irrespective of this, disconnects occur between educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' opinions on parental collaboration across both School and home environments. Prior research studies have argued that it is partly due to differences in educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' role actions (Johnson, 2019). Therefore, to overcome the challenge to parental collaboration, teachers\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' beliefs about involvement must be understood by both parties.

This chapter will critically analyze relevant theoretical frameworks that relate to this study. That will include theories that ground this study on relevant prior works and give the reader a clear sense of the origin of the theory and how it has promoted parental collaboration in schools. Finally, the chapter will analyze and critique various related pieces of literature to provide a firm synthesis of the existing knowledge of parental collaboration.

Theoretical Framework

Theory of Planned Behavior

According to Ajzen (1991), the theory of planned behavior predicts and illustrates human behavior in a particular context. The theory concentrates on motivational reasons that result in increased willingness to execute a behavior on the basis that “the stronger is the intention to engage in a behavior, the more likely should be its performance\\\\\\\" as per the theory, one should know the motivations that result to intentions to be able to predict future involvement in a behavior (Alghazo, 2013).

Subsequently, the theory of planned behavior sets a model for the actions of humans where the intentional behavior is determined by: subjective norms, perceived controls, and attitudes and behaviors (Alghazo, 2013). The attitudes and behaviors are the attitudes and feelings towards particular conduct. Believing that particular conduct has positive results will undoubtedly result in more intentions to execute such conduct. On the other hand, subjective norms refer to the opinions of the people close to the person intending to engage in particular conduct, which can result in social pressure and peer pressure, both of which can result in one\\\\\\\'s high motivations to execute a particular behavior. Finally, perceived control refers to an individual\\\\\\\'s capacity to execute a particular behavior; perceived control contributes to whether one would genuinely undertake the behavior and intend to undertake the behavior.

Therefore, the theory of planned behavior can be applied to illustrate and predict the behavior of parental involvement in the schooling affairs of their children. According to Perry and Langley, they claim that the theory of planned behavior is flexible enough to explain the dynamic and complexity of paternal engagement (Alghazo, 2013). Also, Bracke and Corts argue that parental involvement is also influenced by having close friends of parental involvement, parents\\\\\\\'\\\\\\\' culture, and having neighbors or role models that do or do not collaborate in their children\\\\\\\'s education.

As a result, this theory of planned behavior can also be used to enhance parental collaboration in their children\\\\\\\'s schooling (Alghazo, 2013). For instance, whenever it is a societal norm to get involved, or when the school management has policies that motivate parents, the probability of all parents collaborating increases.

Sociocultural Theory

In his sociocultural theory, Lev Vygotsky stresses the relationship between the environment and human beings, both social and physical. According to Lev Vygotsky, the influences of cultural and social factors on learning and development are abundant. Also, human beings are connected to families and are influenced by their cultures. Parents interact with their close families and cultures that are critical for their learning. Therefore, parents make decisions based on their knowledge about the world through interaction. Vygotsky concentrated on international knowledge by attending to the zone of proximal development as a concept to claim that parents have levels of problem-solving (Alghazo, 2013). Just like children, where the length between the exact development level and the level of potential development is influenced through solving problems under the guidance of parents or control with more mature peers, adults can also be influenced by their friends and family partners while making choices of parental engagement.

The Theory of Street-Level Bureaucracy

The concept of street-level bureaucracy claimed that \\\\\\\"policy implementation, in the end, comes down to the people who implement it.\\\\\\\" For instance, a government is accepted if its bureaucrats reflect the needs and origins of its people (Helgøy & Homme, 2017). Lipsky illustrates street-level bureaucrats as the human face of policy because these individuals directly interact with the people. According to Michael Lipsky, frontline workers significantly contribute to policies by exercising discretion in their daily work. As per his notion, we claim that teachers and school headteachers play critical roles in School\\\\\\\'s strategies to enhance parental collaboration. Furthermore, we argue that the school’s frontline workers are equal to the governing principles of public administration (Helgøy & Homme, 2017).

Related Literature

Reasons for Lack of Parental Involvement

Irrespective of clear parental involvement benefits, several barriers limit parents\\\\\\\' capacity to collaborate in their children\\\\\\\'s education. Schools, parents, and even educators can knowingly or unknowingly create and reinforce these barriers. Notably, one of the common reasons for the failure of parents to be involved is a cultural difference between teachers and parents. Dissimilar values and norms can result in miscommunication, tension, and mistrust. This occurs whenever the school staff fails to create clear guidelines and expectations. Some Literature also suggests that educators sometimes assume that parents are also part of the homogeneous group; for instance, they are presumed to be the same as other parents, instead of distinct persons with different experiences, linguistic backgrounds, and cultural beliefs. Such factors determine why and how parents support their children\\\\\\\'s schooling (Evans, 2017). Teachers can significantly influence parental involvement by acknowledging, embracing, and respecting the different backgrounds of the parents (Thompson, 2018). Many scholars have studied economic and social factors that also hinder parental involvement in a child\\\\\\\'s education.

Also, some institutional staff members are prompted to make negative assumptions and conclusions about parents whose behavior and thinking differ from schools\\\\\\\' values. Teachers usually view parents from minority groups through a deficit lens despite good motives. The \\\\\\\"deficit model\\\\\\\" illustrates that children and their parents have specific needs, and their teachers should consider remediating these problems. Some teachers consider the lack of parents\\\\\\\' participation to indicate a lack of concern for their children\\\\\\\'s education (Suri, H. 2019). Most parents are also assumed to be scarce in education, monetary resources, and experience needed to support learning within School and home environments. Educators should therefore shift their focus on improving ways through which parents can participate.

Moreover, there is a disconnect between educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' ideas on parental involvement across both School and home environments. Literature has proposed that such disconnect could be due to dissimilarities in educators and parents, role construction, and the action they assume (Evans, 2017). Therefore, educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' beliefs about parental collaboration must be understood to tackle the challenge of parental involvement.

On the other hand, the status of parents\\\\\\\' lives determines their support and attitude towards a child\\\\\\\'s learning. The contextual factors include educational background, socioeconomic status, and culture. Also, parents\\\\\\\' perceived energy, self-confidence, and time affect their participation in their children\\\\\\\'s education (Thompson, 2018). The nature of the children\\\\\\\'s schools, e.g., school climate, the context of parental expectation, and geographic location, also influences parental beliefs towards involvement. Whenever parents feel supported, valued, and welcomed by the educators, they are more likely to collaborate in their children\\\\\\\'s schooling. Educators should specifically invite parents to communicate the value of parental involvement in their children\\\\\\\'s education through verbal communication, face-to-face interaction, and written exchanges.

Besides, literature has suggested that parents always believe that their primary duty is to ensure their children arrive at school on time, provide their family children\\\\\\\'s medical background and medical history to school management, and help in homework assignments. However, parents are likely to reject duties not directly related to their child\\\\\\\'s success. For example, socializing with other parents and ensuring the school has the necessary support and resources.

Equally, the background of educators also impacts their practices and perceptions towards parental collaboration. Such background parameters include educators\\\\\\\' prior exposure to parents, educational philosophies, and preparation programs (Evans, 2017). The educators\\\\\\\' belief is also determined by their attitudes of preparedness to work with the parents. Many scholars have proposed that educators show their verbal endorsement for parental engagement; however, they fail to remove or reduce the most usual hindrances that block parental involvement—for example, lack of childcare, work schedule, and language barrier (Thompson, 2018). Moreover, educators always doubt that parents play an equal role in students\\\\\\\' education; hence, they fail to establish collaborative partnerships with parents.

Furthermore, most educators consider a relationship with parents an obligation and a tool to enhance students\\\\\\\' achievement. Teachers only get motivated to endorse parental collaboration in activities that are beneficial to the whole School (Alghazo, 2013). Nevertheless, we are not encouraged to invite parents to participate in decision-making or any other activity that may be taking place in School. Additionally, educators imagine positive parental engagement to contribute to activities that energize practice and endorse learning at home. They also assume that parents will communicate essential information about their children\\\\\\\'s medical history, individual needs, and background. Teachers also tend to consider highly engaged parents as the standard. For instance, they expect all the parents to be generous, flexible, and accessible in their potential to assist in their child\\\\\\\'s classroom.

Also, according to multiple studies, education personnel and schools do not have parental engagement-related training, support, and competencies (Suri, H. 2019). Because working with parents has not been historical with the core of school design, educators have only limited technical support or professional development on parental collaboration. For instance, in the United States, below twenty percent of the 50 states need learning about proper parent and community involvement strategies. Globally, community and parent involvement frequently get short shrift in teacher and leadership development policies and programs (Evans, 2017).

As a result, several schools, staff, and jurisdiction leaders lack the skill set required to properly collaborate with parents in effectively engaging with parents from marginalized groups and navigating regular demands from elite parents (Thompson, 2018). Minus the skills and training to effectively establish trusting relationships with parents, misunderstanding and miscommunication can abound. This can lead to families from the minority and marginalized groups feeling excluded. It can also trigger the feeling of parental disrespect and blame by teachers.

Besides, families, particularly minority groups, feel unwelcome and uncertain working with teachers. Most parents are unsure how to engage schools their children attend, with the worse being feeling unwelcome. This could be due to several factors that could include lack of proper communication between school structures and teachers that do not adapt to the realities of the parents or history of discrimination that parents went through during their days in School. From the research studies, parents in multiple instances mentioned their willingness to engage but did not have clarity from teachers on how to participate (Thompson, 2018). Further, parents argue that schools are not ready to facilitate their collaboration, citing issues like educators\\\\\\\' limited time to speak with them, scheduling school activities while parents are at work, and lack of funds by parents to accomplish some of the schools\\\\\\\' requests (Suri, H. 2019). Also, minus two-way communication and respect, education leaders and teachers may dwell on inaccurate conclusions about social capital, experiences, and worldviews of some category of parents.

Simultaneously, parental engagement usually gets limited attention, funding, and research. For instance, according to literature, a committed group of practitioners and researchers led the field to collect and test strategies and promote solutions on parental collaboration. Still, it failed to receive excellent support and attention. Also, the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development conducted a survey on education administrators and educators within 59 countries between April/May 2020 about experiences in School, including reopening mechanisms in the covid-19 environment (Alghazo, 2013). More than three-quarters of the respondents cited that teachers developed reopening strategies. However, only 25 percent cited that parents were engaged when developing the reopening plans.

Another reason parents are reluctant to communicate to their children\\\\\\\'s teachers is because teachers generally only call parents when they have an issue to report. A full-time job and a family can put much strain on a parent\\\\\\\'s already strained schedule (Evans, 2017). The percentage of single households has increased considerably in recent years, and the last thing these parents want to hear is additional problems. To prevent this from happening, teachers have two options. To begin, make every attempt to have an excellent first encounter with a parent.

Increasing diversity in our classrooms has resulted in a rise in linguistic obstacles

Notifications written in the family\\\\\\\'s original language, interpreters accessible in conferences, or assistance from the parents\\\\\\\' family groups are all options for teachers who work with non-English speaking families (Suri, H. 2019). The irony is that many parents do not realize how important they are to their children\\\\\\\'s education and do not feel the need to get interested in the School. Some parents worry that they will not aid their kids once they start School. According to Petrash and Sidorova (2019), teachers must stress that their children\\\\\\\'s progress in school depends solely on their parents. Parents can significantly impact their children\\\\\\\'s education, even if they do not know much about algebra or chemistry. Classroom teachers are most equipped to explain and demonstrate how parents can engage in the necessary characteristics that contribute to academic achievement for their children.

Enhancing Parental Involvement in School

An increasing body of empirical literature indicates that Epstein\\\\\\\'s model of six types of parental engagement is most effective in enhancing engagement levels in education. The model is founded on the theory of overlapping spheres of influence, whereby educators, members of the community, and families directly impact children\\\\\\\'s learning development (Suri, H. 2019). Educators usually adopt this model as the basis for evaluating, creating, and implementing parental engagement initiatives (Johnson, 2019). Epstein differentiates six types of parental collaboration: communication, parenting, collaborating with the community, decision making, learning at home, and volunteering.

To begin with, parenting is the responsibility of meeting the basic needs of children by the parents like safety and health, as well as creating a supportive learning environment at home. Other responsibilities may include the provision of clothing, housing, transportation, and nutrition. Educators can contribute to child support by ensuring children get the basic needs through information sharing to the parents on the availability of parent-training initiatives, family support groups, and community-based resources (Thompson, 2018).

Subsequently, communication is also another critical form of parental collaboration. Communication, in this case, is the interaction between educators and parents to give children a supportive environment while at School. Parents share appropriate information about their children\\\\\\\'s family background and health history (Evans, 2017). They also share their educational expectations and aspirations (Suri, H. 2019). Therefore, Educators should promote communication by providing parents with various means and ways to exchange information. For instance, parents can communicate through in-person, phone calls, notes, or email.

Another type of involvement is through volunteering which translates to parents offering services to students, other parents, or educators in the classroom or other school-associated activities. It also includes parents\\\\\\\' attendance at sporting events, student demonstrations, sporting events, and other programs (Alghazo, 2013). Educators can also promote volunteerism by collecting data from parents to establish volunteer interests, availability, and skills.

Moreover, another type of collaboration is when parents support home-based learning for their children studying beyond the regular school calendar. Activities involved setting academic goals, helping children with their homework, and facilitating trips to the local museums and libraries (Johnson, 2019). Teachers can ensure learning at home is enhanced by availing parental workshops to improve their knowledge, skills, and self-confidence to guide their children during home learning sessions.

The second last type of involvement in decision making is where parents contribute to school governance and educational decision making that influences students\\\\\\\' education. Parents are involved in this type of collaboration when they take active roles in advocacy councils, committees, and parent organizations at the state, district, or school levels. Teachers can promote parental contribution in decision-making by urging parents to participate by sending invitations.

On the other hand, to enhance parental collaboration, there is a need to make the purpose of the school clearly understood among all the stakeholders, that is, parents, educators, students, and community members (Thompson, 2018). Therefore, firm conversations with schools and families bring about systemwide transformational processes. Research examining one of the hindrances to parental collaboration established poor alignment between community members, from parents to education leaders to teachers, on the values and beliefs about parental-school engagement. First, they lack the sense of \\\\\\\"this is what parental collaboration is about.\\\\\\\" Thus, necessitating a respectful and deep conversation where schools and parents, and other stakeholders have equal places at the table to unlock parental collaboration. Finally, the study recommended that collectively aligning and defining the purpose of parental engagement and values that drive it are critical to system change. Furthermore, reforms can only be successful when they are consistent with stakeholders\\\\\\\' beliefs and values and aligned with teachers\\\\\\\' students\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' values about education.

In addition, redefining the purpose of School is one of the strongest levers of parental collaboration requiring full communal participation. Systems of whatever kind; justice, health, education are made of several parameters from visible to concrete-like resources and people, invisible and the abstract like culture and group priorities (Evans, 2017). Multiple works of literature have pointed to changing structures that include the \\\\\\\'invisible\\\\\\\' elements like beliefs and values as the most effective means to improving parental collaboration (Thompson, 2018). The literature claims that when leaders attempt to alter visible or concrete parameters of parental collaboration minus changing the firm structures of values and beliefs that guide such engagements, the outcome accumulates to tinkering around the edges. Otherwise, changing the values and beliefs that direct such engagements would also change the invisible and visible parameters.

Therefore, framing the shared vision of parental involvement is a powerful way for families and schools to guide the firm structures directing how schools operate. For instance, in communities where students, teachers, or parents have diverse beliefs on what schools are meant for and what they ought to do, learning institutions are more likely to suffer, be pulled to several directions, or otherwise experience many oppositions to any improvements made (Thompson, 2018). However, communities with a well-framed vision of the purpose of School can stride forward appropriately with students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders carrying out their respective roles in ensuring the vision is advanced. Such type of parent-school engagement has the benefit of ensuring the quality of education across multiple leadership cycles is sustained.

Historical debates and changes on parental collaboration

Parental collaboration can be interpreted as a societal, multifaceted concern discussed and represented from diverse views, partly due to historical differences. According to Ule, Živoder & du Bois-Reymond (2015), the heightening parental participation entangled the processes of familiarization and institutionalization. In other words, success in School is enhancing value in students\\\\\\\' life course path (institutionalization); equally, the school allocates responsibilities for this success to children themselves and their families (familiarization) (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). In Denmark, for example, this tendency is mirrored in the \\\\\\\'Act on increased parental responsibility (Thompson, 2018). The act aims to strengthen and clarify the general duties and responsibilities of the parents per students\\\\\\\' school and learning lives. Moreover, the target is to support socially vulnerable children by urging their parents to assume responsibility.

Consequently, the historical parental responsibility changes follow the expert advice and rules by defining what it means to be a collaborative and responsible parent. According to recent studies, the boundaries between parents\\\\\\\' and schools\\\\\\\' responsibilities have changed towards heightened responsibilities of parents (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). Also, the emphasis on the value of parental upbringing and support of children\\\\\\\'s achievements and learning in School has resulted in several interventions that include parents in multiple partnership platforms when students undergo a challenge in School (Thompson, 2018). Further research has confirmed that such interventions of parents\\\\\\\' participation contribute a tangible impact on their children\\\\\\\'s achievement in school.

Besides, earlier research studies focused on explicit or implicit expectations that parents face, and they strive to be regarded as responsible. According to Crozier, Reay, and James (2011), middle-class parents\\\\\\\' involvement is key to the transmission and reproduction of parents\\\\\\\' middle-class privileges to their children, regardless of their intentions ((Thompson, 2018). On the other hand, parental collaboration is more linked to fundamental communal conflicts and problems. Such conflicts go beyond the immediate relation between the professionals and parents and cannot be tackled through contracts, courses, or communicative systems alone.

In addition, about education, there is a trend to adopt, for example, dialogue techniques, criteria for training parents how to converse with their children, and written consensus between parents and officials to tackle challenges or clarify expectations relating to contributions of those engaged. In most instances, parents are seen as the problem to be tackled; as a result, school dilemmas might be displaced onto the students\\\\\\\' family background.

On the other hand, parental collaboration refers to the general collaboration between all professionals in School and all the parents (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). However, it is usually confined to debate about intergenerational transmission and social background shortcomings of the parents, with collaboration being performed and understood as a form of compensatory plan to enable parents the lives of their children in School. Such discussion accentuates the dilemma of realizing the links between various (unequal) situations of varying family lives and situated challenges in schools (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). As a result, parental collaboration relates to a diverse form of thinking and understanding success of children in School as being closely associated with the family background and connected with social control, compensative interventions, and social help.

According to Bourdieu Lareau (2019), social class influences the cultural logic of child-rearing, with \\\\\\\'combined cultivation\\\\\\\' used by middle-class parents. The child-rearing techniques of the poor or working-class parents become unfortunate for their children as far as their school life is concerned. For example, according to Lareau\\\\\\\'s findings, parents from families that are working-class do not encourage their children to involve in conversation that encourages negotiation and reasoning and fail to make their children feel special. Such parents failed to teach the impression that their children\\\\\\\'s opinions should be developed and cultivated. Furthermore, they failed to monitor and direct their children\\\\\\\'s leisure activities continuously. Therefore, social class is established to create different styles of parenting indeed (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). As a result, a close association between students\\\\\\\' position in class and the unequal outcomes of their experiences as they socialize with professionals outside the homes.

On the other hand, after comparing multiple varying works of literature, Amendt established that a greater connection between parents and educators takes place in phases along a progression, not a singular occurrence. The initial stage is \\\\\\\"informing,\\\\\\\" indicating a one-way flow of communication from school to parents and students (Hedeen et al., 2018). This approach contravenes the two-way communication model that is meaningful between teachers and parents (Hedeen et al., 2018).

Subsequently, According to Amendt, the following two stages, \\\\\\\'involving\\\\\\\' and \\\\\\\'engaging,\\\\\\\' have essential distinctions as involvement indicates an invitation to parents to endorse a plan developed by the staff. In contrast, an agenda is created by parents, community members, students, and staff members (together) through engagement (Evans, 2017). They make decisions and take action together as a team (Højholt & Kousholt, 2019). According to Amendt\\\\\\\'s findings, involvement is marred by limited trust, while engagement creates a higher level of trust. Leading takes place when parties have established a policy of engagement with all stakeholders playing good leadership roles to achieve the shared vision (Hedeen et al., 2018). Amendt interviewed with parents and faculty at a school established that both the groups had invested effort to develop a foundation of goodwill and corporation that enabled their relation to build high leveled trust.

21st-century Steps for Improving Parental collaboration in Schools

According to research studies, only 3 in 10 parents feel that their interests and ideas are listened to at schools. Parents need a better platform to speak up their opinions. Therefore, conducting surveys can encourage parental engagement (Johnson, 2019). Conducting surveys assists in evaluating the achievement of various initiatives and drives improvements. Moreover, they can bridge the gap between schools and the parents (Chu et al. 2020). Thus, establishing a win-win scenario that sees the parents feel valued and add value. Besides, with the current free online survey tools like \\\\\\\'SurveyMonkey\\\\\\\' schools can set surveys in seconds without looking for more resources. Using newsletters, social media, school websites, and blog posts, a survey can reach far and broad coverage as possible to guarantee a high response rate.

Additionally, to improve parent-school engagement, communication is vital. However, parent communication can be expensive as it requires several systems and methods. The most accessible means to keep parents in communication and engaged is by developing an engagement app (Johnson, 2019). Using the school engagement app, all the stakeholders, including educators, can connect with parents promptly simply through a single login. On the same note, parents receive instant information on their children\\\\\\\'s progress at school anywhere, anytime (Chu et al. 2020). Tools like Schoolcomms\\\\\\\' parent app are developed to fasten parental engagement, and it does not cost anything and has a two-way app for messaging and online reporting. Also, apps like School Gateway can be used to freely share school resources, news, timetables, HomeWorks, consent forms, surveys, and reports directly with parents to their phones. Hence, transforming communication means with hard-to-reach parents (Johnson, 2019). In a nutshell, a parent app can save the school and parents time and money while transmitting updates to parents on their children\\\\\\\'s progress in school.

Subsequently, websites also provide practical and simple means of promoting parental engagement. Establishing school websites can avail plenty of information on how families get engaged with the school. Such websites can help conduct surveys, post information on new school initiatives, and direct mechanisms to enhance students\\\\\\\' performance. Furthermore, the website can be used to update parents on the details of the School governing board and any other respective individuals of interest. Through this, parents will feel more connected with the School and the School governing body.

With the widespread use of social media, schools can engage parents to enhance parent communication and participation (Chu et al. 2020). Popular platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, amongst others, can provide excellent means to connect families to schools\\\\\\\' websites. In doing this, free social media management tools like TweetDeck and Hootsuite can schedule posts in advance, thus enabling the admin valuable free time. Social media can also improve the school’s reputation by sharing positive results of any school\\\\\\\'s current initiatives, reports, or strategies. As a result, the wider public and parents will share in the School\\\\\\\'s success and stay up to date with any developments.

Parents struggle to create time for their busy schedules with work commitments, family life, or child care. Therefore, educators need to make meetings more accessible to ensure all the parents can attend. Enabling parents to attend meetings from home using current technology would be an excellent deal (Andenæs & Haavind, 2019). With tools like SchoolCloud Parents evening, teachers and parents can carry out virtual meetings through securely encrypted video calls. Flexibility in joining the meeting will improve parental participation and attendance, enhancing turnout.

One of the reasons for the failure of parental collaboration is their busy schedule; hence, they do not have time to follow up on what is going on. To combat this, the simple way is to use Newsletters to communicate essential updates to the parents at a go. On the other hand, volunteering opportunities in schools can help break the communication gap between parents and School. Volunteering through participation in schools\\\\\\\' projects and parent teachers\\\\\\\' association can establish critical networks bringing closer hard-to-reach parents. Availing multiple activities is core as it enables all parents from diverse backgrounds to participate. Parent Teachers Association has a critical role in endorsing parental engagement. The association avails a perfect platform for parents and teachers to exchange ideas, share views, and establish mutual trust.

Finally, one of the steps can also include educators appointing one of their staff members to be the parent involvement champion. An individual appointed for this position will work with students and parents to eliminate learning and parental collaboration barriers. It will be upon the parent engagement champion team to develop an engagement plan to implement new ideas to assist the School in keeping progress on track (Johnson, 2019). The team can also play a lead role in identifying mechanisms to create a conducive learning environment at home and reviewing the existing strategies. In a nutshell, parents are valuable partners to teachers, and a school that promotes parental collaboration can reap huge when parents take part in their children\\\\\\\'s education. No success occurs overnight; otherwise, some simple steps can be adopted to enhance parental engagement.

Summary

Several works of literature within the last three decades have focused on the importance of parental collaboration to the school and students. Also, many scholars have indicated how parental collaboration contributes to improved children\\\\\\\'s achievements. Some significant literature has also studied some contributing factors to parental engagement (Johnson, 2019). However, there are limited research findings on how challenges of parental collaboration can be solved and, most importantly, steps or mechanisms through which schools can enhance parental collaboration. This is mainly in schools with diverse backgrounds in terms of beliefs, culture, parental financial and economic status, and academic levels (Andenæs & Haavind, 2019). Therefore, this study will bridge the existing gap by finding how parental collaboration can be enhanced.

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Overview

The purpose of this study was to provide recommendations to the leadership team at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve the practice of parent collaboration. Subsequently, the problem is the lack of parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. Even though there are multiple challenges connected with parental engagement in education, both the educators and parents have a positive and harmonious opinion on the importance of involvement. Parental engagement is an essential factor in endorsing students\\\\\\\' learning and future success. Irrespective of this disconnect, educators\\\\\\\' and parents\\\\\\\' opinions agree on parental collaboration across the School and home environments.

Research Design

Creswell (2014) defines research design as a framework of techniques chosen by a researcher to handle the research problem efficiently. A research design links the research objectives, study questions, empirical studies, conclusions, and study recommendations. A research design should provide a clear outline of how the study population must obtain the research findings (Bernauer, 2015). 

The current study employed a multimethod research design to provide Marion P Thomas Charter School District Performing Art & Culinary Academy with Recommendations for Improving the Effectiveness of Parental Collaboration in their child\\\\\\\'s education. The primary purpose of a multimethod research design was to validate data and results by mixing various data sources through quantitative and qualitative data collection. Multimethod research design introduces context and testability into research (Evans, 2017). Gathering data from different sources and methods provides a broader range of coverage that may bring a better picture of the unit of study than would have been realized otherwise. The use of a multimethod in this study enhances the robustness of the results since findings can be strengthened by triangulation, \\\\\\\"the cross-validation achieved when different kinds and sources of data converge and are found congruent.\\\\\\\" (Kaplan and Duchon 1988).

This research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In the quantitative approach, the researcher applied the use of Surveys, while in the qualitative approach, the researcher applied interviews and Document analysis.

Research Questions

Central Research Question: How can the practice of parent collaboration be improved at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Sub-question 1: what is the role of teachers at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy in enhancing parental collaboration?

Sub-question 2: Does a parent’s financial background influence their parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Sub-question 3: what are the roles of parents in promoting parental collaboration at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy?

Setting

The chosen educational site for this study was Marion P. Thomas Charter School (M.P.T.C.S.), Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.). This district is public. As per the district website, this district consists of three school locations in the urban areas of Newark, New Jersey. The mission of the district is \\\\\\\"By every means necessary; our mission is to be a 21st century Village responsive to the needs of students, parents, staff, and the Newark community-at-large, where scholars become ready for colleges, careers, and life.\\\\\\\" The districts include P.A.C. (Performing Arts & Culinary) Academy serving Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade, 578 students are attending. The student population size is approximately 473 students. The P.A.C. Academy demographic includes 89% African- American, 7% Hispanic, 2% Native American, 0.3% Caucasian, 0.7% two or more races. The gender of the students includes 257 males and 216 females. Within P.A.C. Academy, there are 37 teachers with a Student/Teacher Ratio 17:1. For this study, P.A.C. Academy will be the focus of this assignment. The P.A.C. school leadership team consists of the principal, the operational manager, two vice principals, and two deans. P.A.C. Academy Student support consists of two Deans, two Vice principals, a Social Worker, and a Family Liaison.

Participants

The participants in the study included (n= 10) parents/guardians, (n=5 students support team members (n=3) support Staff, and (n=7) teachers and school administrators who were considered as stakeholders during the period of study. The role of this evaluation was to obtain a detailed knowledge of the perceived level of parental collaboration effectiveness among the stakeholders. According to Bryman and Bell (2011), the population is the universe of units from which a sample is selected. In other words, all elements, individuals, or units that meet the selection criteria for a group to be studied and from which representative sample is taken for detailed examination. Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest. By studying the sample, somewhat generalized results are traced back to the population from which they were chosen (Trochim, 2006).

In this study, participants were chosen through convenience sampling, primarily through voluntary submission of an electronic-based survey sent to all parents, teachers, and support staff. While for the students, a paper-based survey accessible at the reception was used. The survey had a response rate of 62% for teachers and school administrators contacted, 35% for parents/guardians contacted, 5% of students, and 4% of support staff contacted.

The researcher\\\\\\\'s role

The motivation for conducting this study was to provide recommendations to the leadership team at the Performing Art & Culinary Academy (P.A.C.) site of Marion P. Thomas Charter school district to improve parent collaboration. This is due to poor parental engagement at Marion P. Thomas Charter School P.A.C. Academy. However, both the educators and parents had positive and congruent opinions on the importance of parental involvement, hence, the need to provide a recommendation that would improve it.

The site of this study was a recommendation by the administrative team of Doctoral Programs and Research School of Education (Andenæs & Haavind, 2019). Therefore, the researcher did not have any interest or bias in choosing the research site that could influence data collection or analysis. On the other hand, since the researcher used a multimethod research design, the researcher was directly involved in collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data. Such roles may come along with challenges of prejudice and bias (Evans, 2017). The researcher used structured interviews according to the guidelines developed before the interview sessions to eliminate any possibility of bias (Suri, H. 2019). Further, the interviews were conducted electronically, and both the audio and video of the interviews were recorded directly to provide a richer representation.

Procedures

Permission from the I.R.B. was obtained (see Appendix A for I.R.B. approval). Written permission to conduct the study was also obtained from the superintendent principal of Marion P Thomas Charter School District Performing Art & Culinary Academy, the critical gatekeepers at any site. (see Appendix B for permission request letter and permissions)

Data Collection and Analysis

Interviews

The first sub-question for this study explored how Student Support Team members in a semi-structured interview would Improve Parental Collaboration at Marion P Thomas Charter School District Performing Art & Culinary Academy. These interviews were with the Student Support Team members, which consisted of five members. Each member was interviewed through the zoom virtual platform separately. Each session lasted 45 minutes approximately. The student support team members are increasingly pushed to form genuine relationships with family and community because of the evident efficacy of parental involvement in raising student achievement. According to Suri, H. 2011, purposeful sampling involves access to critical information in the subject that can help detect information-rich cases Suri H. (2011). Purposeful sampling was utilized as the Student Support Team directly interacted with the families. The student support team provided the families with support beyond the classroom. This support includes but is not limited to social-emotional learning, attendance, addressing negative behaviors, addressing mental health concerns, and providing referrals for community-based support.

Interviews were organized through a zoom meeting platform in a one–on–one structure. The student support team signed in and provided feedback on their understanding of the staff\\\\\\\'s awareness of parent collaboration and implementation strategies (Andenæs & Haavind, 2019). This information was used to identify the themes and answer the central research question. Thematic analysis was used in the research. The researcher transcribed the responses to evaluate common themes by selective coding, as illustrated in Merriam (2009). These themes were color-coded, relating to every type of engagement. Data was gathered through the ten semi-structured questions. Each participant consented to the interview, and the following questions were asked.

Interview Questions

1. What policy has the School put in place to engage parents?

This question is intended to state the policy from the district level regarding collaborating with parents and the community. Highlighting the district collaborative requirements for educators and families provides an understanding of the staff\\\\\\\'s essential communication (Grey, 2019).

2. What is the guidance for implementing said policies?

This question examines the plans of P.A.C. Academy administrators to implement the collaboration efforts on how to work with the families to implement the district\\\\\\\'s policies (Grey,2019).

3. What are the responsibilities of the school staff?

This question examines the knowledge of the staff and their responsibilities as educators about family collaboration (Grey, 2019). Many school leaders cannot foster true coalitions because of cultural boundaries and other problems. School administrators must pursue significant community-school relationships to create socially-just schools where caregivers are involved and leaders in the school community. This journal is a compilation of studies on instructional supervision and best practices for fostering meaningful collaboration between families and schools.

4. What are the responsibilities of the parents?

By asking this question, the interviewer will understand the parents\\\\\\\' requirements in collaboration with the School (C.D.C., 2012). An integrated framework for school health can include school activities to encourage parental involvement. Families develop a comprehensive school health plan based on local requirements, resources, and standards. While this framework employs a holistic framework for effective health, it recognizes that staff primary prevention and parental involvement are critical components of promoting healthy habits among students, parents, and caregivers.

5. What are the methods of communication between parents and staff?

Parental involvement is also encouraged when parents believe that the School and kids desire and expect it. If schools wish to promote parental involvement in school health, they need to establish trusting relationships. In addition, schools should offer a wide range of initiatives and frequent chances for parents to participate. Schools can maintain parental involvement by taking steps to solve the most prevalent obstacles (Kanji et al., 2020). For example, schools may need to re-connect with parents during the school year to keep them engaged in the program.

6. What is the status of Parent-school collaboration thus far since the reopening of the School?

Parent-school collaboration is a powerful tool for promoting a healthy lifestyle and academic conduct in children; it can also enhance accessibility to resources and support structures for children and help them get the preventive services they need.

7. What are the possible barriers identified that might prevent the progress of the execution of Parent-school collaboration?

This question determines the effectiveness and barriers identified within plans the communicate and collaborate with parents (Grey, 2019). Additional studies demonstrate that programs including parents can enhance good health habits, such as children\\\\\\\'s school-related physical activity.

8. What is parent engagement in schools?

An important role is played by parents when it comes to promoting the well-being and education of their children and helping them navigate the school system effectively. When parents and school personnel work collaboratively to help their children learn, grow, and thrive, parental involvement in schools is called. It is a joint obligation for schools and other educational agencies and groups to interact with parents in significant ways and help encourage their children\\\\\\\'s and teenagers\\\\\\\' education and development.

9. Why is parent engagement in schools meaningful?

Involving parents in their children\\\\\\\'s education can help them develop healthy habits. For example, children who feel appreciated by their parents are far less likely to suffer from mental distress, participate in poor eating habits, contemplate and try suicide, or drop out. In addition, studies have indicated that including parents in school activities to enhance health among kids is more effective. Studies show that when parents participate at their children\\\\\\\'s School, their children\\\\\\\'s risk of smoking declines, and their likelihood of fulfilling physical activity standards improves. According to Armstrong et al. (2017), relationships between families and students at home tend to be the most critical factor in a student\\\\\\\'s performance. This begins with ambitious goals for their children and making education a top priority in the home.

10. How can staff increase parent engagement in school culture and climate?

Many aspects are unknown why parents get active in their children\\\\\\\'s education. Still, it appears that the most frequent incentive is a conviction that their activities will help enhance the educational and emotional well-being of their children. School staff may illustrate to parents whether their children\\\\\\\'s health and education could be improved by participating in school health programs (Safta-Zecheria, 2020).

Survey Procedures

The second method of data collection was the use of surveys. This survey investigated how the staff and parents of P.A.C. Academy would improve parent collaboration within their School. The data collection of a closed-end Likert scale was dispensed through survey monkey form, and this is a survey administered software by Momentive. This approach also guarantees an answer for every question asked (Williams & Moser, 2019). This survey method of collection of data is appropriate as it honors the quantitative approach with one question to one answer.

The participants for this approach include four teachers, two support staff, and three parents of students at P.A.C. Academy. This approach is a purposeful sample as each participant has experience with the staff and parent collaboration. Each participant received an electronic invitation through text on their cellular phone and email. Each invitation included the purpose of the survey and instructions for finishing the survey. The data was collected after two weeks and analyzed. The results were analyzed by calculating the frequency of each number reported on the Likert scale on a question-by-question basis and the average score reported by all participants for each question (Andenæs & Haavind, 2019). This survey included ten statements and demographic questions for each survey participant. However, the researcher has only focused on this study\\\\\\\'s three-research question of interest. The Likert scale used a 5-point rating included in the following questions.

Demographic Questions

1. What is the highest educational degree you have received?

Less than High School Diploma

High School Diploma or G.E.D./Equivalent

Associate Degree

Bachelor\\\\\\\'s Degree

Graduate Degree

Doctorate

2. Which category best describes your age in years?

20-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

3. What is your race?

Asian

White

Native American/Pacific Islander

Black/African American

Two or More Races

Other

Survey Questions

1. Staff utilizes effective communication when communicating with parents.

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

To have a meaningful dialogue with parents, teachers must treat parents as equals, use strong listening skills, and end the talk positively. Parents and staff must understand that creating a conducive learning environment is more critical than providing their children with academic tutoring (Grey, 2019).

2. The first encounter between a parent and a school staff is significant.

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

This was intended to clarify how teachers build their positive relationships with parents. A simple thank you note or phone call from the teacher to the parents at the beginning of the school year can go a considerable way toward establishing a healthy relationship (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018).

3. Staff is given time to communicate with parents.

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

This question is intended to discover if staff is given time to collaborate and communicate with parents. Understanding when and how to communicate is essential to the collaboration process of community relationships (Liu et al., 2020).

4. The expectation of communication between parents and staff is understood.

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

This question sought the School\\\\\\\'s guidance regarding parent collaboration with staff. Teachers struggle to communicate effectively with their students\\\\\\\' families (Muller & Kerbow, 2018). For decades, researchers have documented the advantages of forming partnerships with parents, but new teachers and experienced teachers alike are unaware of this (Petrash & Sidorova (2019).

5. Staff is given time to communicate with parents.

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree Strongly Disagree

This aims to determine a set time for parents and staff to communicate. Only 4% of all formative assessment teachers in the United States say they took a course on parental participation as part of their preparation (Kerbaiv & Bernhardt, 2018). This inquiry taps into the significance of collaboration.

6. Positive student behavior success results from parent and staff collaboration.

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Schools may have partnerships programs to promote optimal parental involvement by developing, implementing, evaluating, and improving plans and procedures fostering family and community engagement. Parenting, learning at home, communication, participation, judgment, and community collaboration are just some of the ways schools may help students become more involved in their families and communities (Puccioni, 2018).

7. It is beneficial for parents to be involved in their students learning journey.

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Teachers can help parents keep track of their children\\\\\\\'s progress in School by offering information like homework requirements, grading policies, reporting deadlines, a brief explanation of the course topic, and various projects and events throughout the year (Puccioni, 2018).

8. Teachers frequently participate in community-based activities to build a better relationship with parents.

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This question helps understand how the positive adult relationship between staff and parents benefits the student. In addition, helping parents keep tabs on their children\\\\\\\'s academic development, regular school chats also demonstrate to kids that their parents are concerned about their academic success (Law et al., 2018).

9. Student Support Team at P.A.C. Academy communicated more with parents than teachers.

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This question highlighted that the Student Support Team communicated with the parents more frequently than Teachers. According to B?k-?rednicka (2018), administrators and instructors must create a friendly and inviting environment to make schools less scary and more welcome for parents who have had unpleasant experiences.