Engaging with parents: the relationship between school engagement efforts,social class,and learning

Using data from the U.S. Department of Education's (2000) Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), this study investigates the relationship between school efforts to engage parents, average socioeconomic status (SES) of families within a school, and kindergarteners' end-of-year reading and mathematics achievement. Drawing from Epstein's (2001 Epstein, J.L. 2001. School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.  [Google Scholar]) parent involvement framework, the 4 types of engagement efforts explored are intended to promote communication, parent volunteering, parent influence in school decision making, and parenting skills. We apply multilevel methods to explore the impact of schools' efforts to engage parents on student achievement. Our findings indicate certain types of school efforts to engage parents influence achievement. Depending on average school SES, efforts to promote volunteering has a differential impact on reading achievement, efforts to involve parents in school decision making has a differential impact on mathematics achievement, and efforts to increase communication and promote parenting skills have a differential impact on reading and mathematics achievement.     

Validation of a brief measure of teachers’ perceptions of school climate: relations to student achievement and suspensions

Based on theory and research on learning environments, the Delaware School Climate Survey–Teacher/Staff (DSCS–T/S) was developed to provide schools with a brief, psychometrically sound measure of teachers’ perceptions of school climate. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses, conducted on a sample of 5,781 teachers, support staff, administrators and other staff in 132 schools, showed that a bifactor model consisting of seven specific factors best represented the data. Those factors were Teacher–Student Relations, Student–Student Relations, Teacher–Home Communication, Respect for Diversity, School Safety, Fairness of Rules, and Clarity of Expectations. Measurement invariance was found across grade levels (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) and subgroups of respondents (i.e., teachers, instructional support staff and noninstructional staff). As evidence of concurrent validity across grade levels, nearly all scores, aggregated at the school level and correlated significantly and negatively with suspensions/expulsion rates and positively with academic achievement. The DSCS–T/S is likely to be useful to schools interested in assessing school climate and the effects of various programs, such bullying prevention programs, that target the seven dimensions of school climate measured.     

Multiple Predictors of Asian American Children's School Achievement

Research Findings: A structural equation model (SEM) and multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model were used to test family factors, parent psychological well-being, parent–child home activity, and parent school involvement in relation to children's school achievement. Data for this study were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten (ECLS-K), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The sample for this study was 1,100 Asian American kindergartners and their parents. Practice or Policy: The results of this study are as follows: (a) Family factors, especially parental education levels and family income, were significantly associated with Asian American students' school achievement; (b) parent–child home activity was significantly related to students' school achievement but in a negative direction; (c) parental school involvement was not found to be significant in predicting students' school achievement; (d) parental psychological well-being was significantly associated with both parent–child home activity and students' school achievement; (e) family income was significantly associated with parental psychological well-being, parental school involvement, and children's school achievement; and (f) family structure was not significantly associated with school achievement.     

Exploring School Improvement in Hong Kong Secondary Schools

Scholars have increasingly sought to understand how the process of school improvement differs among schools operating in different school levels, conditions, and contexts. Using Rosenholtz's (1985 Rosenholtz, S. 1985. Effective schools: Interpreting the evidence. American Journal of Education, 93: 352–388. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conception of “moving” and “stuck” schools as a framework for thinking about school improvement, this study examines the learning outcomes of 39 Hong Kong secondary schools over a 3-year period. We examine whether features of leadership and school capacity differed with respect to these learning outcomes within the sample of moving and stuck schools. This research in Hong Kong has identified several factors that appear to synergistically contribute to differences in patterns of improvement in learning across different subjects in both moving and stuck schools. These factors include resource management of principals and school capacity in terms of professional learning community; workload of teachers; alignment, coherence, and structure; and resource capacity. This study extends the research on leadership and capacity building as a means of school improvement, in the process elaborating on their impact within a non-Western society.     

A Pilot Study of a Self-Administered Parent Training Intervention for Building Preschoolers’ Social–Emotional Competence

Social–emotional skills are equally as crucial for school success as cognitive and academic skills (Webster-Stratton and Reid in Infants Young Child 17:96–113, 2004), yet many young children lack these skills (Lavigne et al. in J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 35:204–214, 1996). Therefore, it is essential to invest in the development of social–emotional competence at an early age—a task that necessitates active parent involvement (Webster-Stratton and Reid 2004). This pilot study explored the effectiveness, integrity, and acceptability of a self-administered parent training intervention [Devereux Early Childhood Assessment—Second Edition (DECA-P2) family guide (Mackrain and Cairone in Promoting resilience for now and forever: a family guide for supporting the social and emotional development of preschool children, 2nd edn. Kaplan Early Learning Company, Lewisville, 2013)] targeting the promotion of social–emotional competence in young children (N = 12). Pre- and post-test parent reports revealed that children’s social–emotional competence increased and behavior problems decreased following program completion. Parent ratings indicated the intervention was carried out as intended (i.e., integrity) and that it was helpful (i.e., acceptability). These exploratory findings suggest that this self-administered parent intervention shows promise as an alternative to face-to-face early childhood prevention services.     

Changes in education in the U.K. and Australia: Common imperatives,predictable outcomes

This paper draws comparisons between the U.K. and Australia (with particular reference to New South Wales) with regard to proposals to a changed school curriculum together with proposed changes in Higher Education. The authors note that the content of the proposed common core curriculum in U.K. schools is very similar to the New South Wales proposal. Further there seems to be little change in the U.K. at least from what was offered there in 1904. In looking at the parallels between the two education systems it is suggested by the authors that there is a hidden agenda particularly in the U.K. Does this hold for Australia as well? The implication is that Australia is following this path. The authors conclude that a divided society is too high a price for us to pay in Australia.     

Exploring the ‘digital disconnect’ between net‐savvy students and their schools

Educational commentators have long feared a ‘digital disconnection’ between emerging generations of technology‐rich students accustomed to high levels of Internet use and their technology‐poor schools. Yet few studies have empirically examined the existence and potential implications of such a disconnect from the students' perspective. The present paper replicates Levin and Arafeh's (2002 Levin, D. and Arafeh, S. 2002. The digital disconnect: the widening gap between internet‐savvy students and their schools, Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project.  [Google Scholar]) US study which solicited online stories from students detailing how they used the Internet for school. Responses from 84 UK secondary school students show that just over half felt restricted in their Internet use at school. Unlike the original US study, the primary disconnect between UK Internet‐using students and their schools was not one of physical access but the restriction of their Internet use through school rules and content filters, firewalls and other technologies of control. Whilst some students displayed frustration and disenchantment, most gave measured and sometimes sympathetic views of their schools' less‐than‐perfect information technology provision. As such, many of our students were well aware of a digital disconnect but displayed a pragmatic acceptance rather than the outright alienation from school that some commentators would suggest.     

Academic Competence in Preschool: Exploring the Role of Close Relationships and Anxiety

This study tested a conceptual model of a psychosocial pathway to academic competence in preschool. Developmental theory and research with older children suggest that social and psychological factors could have a significant impact on young children's learning and school readiness. Children in 3 preschool classrooms (N = 31) participated. Mothers' perceptions of their children as more or less trusting and secure at age 3 years were rated on the Attachment Behavior Q-Set (Waters, 1987 Waters, E. 1987. “Attachment Behavior Q-Set”. (Revision 3.0). Unpublished instrument, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Department of Psychology. [Google Scholar]). Sociometric ratings were collected from classmates 1 year later through individual picture interviews. Preschool teachers rated children's academic competence and trait anxiety. Attachment Behavior Q-Set scores at age 3 were associated with teacher ratings of academic competence the following year (ages 4–5 years). However, this effect was mediated by 2 intervening psychosocial variables: anxiety and peer acceptance. Early secure attachment to parents may (a) potentiate less anxiety, removing emotional barriers to learning; and (b) enhance positive relationships with peers, perhaps motivating children to engage more in the preschool curriculum and leading to relatively greater academic competence. Adopting preschool curricula that foster positive peer relationships, anxiety regulation skills, and supportive parent—child relationships could indirectly enhance preschool children's academic competence and school readiness.     

Investigating the factors influencing teachers’ use of ICT in teaching in Bruneian secondary schools

The primary focus of the research study described in this paper was to assess the status quo of teachers’ use of Information and Communication Technology in teaching in terms of the factors that influence their use. Using a survey questionnaire, data was collected from a total of 1,891 secondary school teachers in all government schools in Negara Brunei Darussalam. Structural equation modelling, using AMOS 5.0 software, was employed as the major statistical analytic technique for a series of data analyses and assessment of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the theoretical model that underpinned the study. Findings presented in this paper indicate that Bruneian teachers’ use of ICT in teaching was influenced by their personal (attitude), social (subjective norms), and control (perceived behavioural control) factors.     

Exploring the definitions of quality early childhood programmes in a market‐driven context: case studies of two Hong Kong preschools

Set within the market‐driven context in educare for young children in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, this paper points to the importance of exploring the definitions of quality in early childhood programmes from the multiple perspectives of school stakeholders. This study describes two preschools that were rated highly in the quality assurance inspections. Data collected in semi‐structured, individual and group interviews indicated that the views of the school stakeholders on the quality of early childhood programmes shifted from childrearing to developmental nurturing but still emphasised academic learning and preparedness. This was largely due to the ‘backwash effect’ of primary education creating academic pressure on the local preschools. The two case study schools formulated successful strategies for reconciling conflicts between professional values of learning through play and parental expectations of academic preparation for primary education. In addition, the schools put a lot of effort into sharpening their competitive edge. They did this by maintaining close communication with their parents through various channels and offering free after‐school custodial care, emotional and financial support. These are outside the primary duties of a preschool but highlight the way in which schools in the local field address and give high priority to parents' needs and expectations. In line with Woodhead's 1998 Woodhead, M. 1998. Quality in early childhood programmes: contextually appropriate approach. International Journal of Early Years Education, 6(1): 5–13. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar] contextually appropriate approach to quality, the study sets a challenge for our understanding of quality frameworks for early childhood programmes. These should not be based mainly on a universalist view of developmental appropriateness but should also take into account the multiplicity of stakeholders' views on quality in a market‐driven context. The data also demonstrate that the provision of preschooling in Hong Kong is shaped by market forces. The implications for quality educare are discussed.     

“Mind the gap”: cultural revitalisation and educational change

The success or failure of a school reform can be measured by whether the reform has become an accepted, effective, and sustainable part of the school's culture. For example, as the National Middle School Association (2003 National Middle School Association. 2003. Research and resources in support of “This we Believe”, Westerville, OH: Author.  [Google Scholar]) argued, “new programs must become integral to the school culture” (p. 11) before a school can call itself a “middle” school. But how can a school monitor its progress, and at what point can a school claim that a new reform or new programme has become part of its culture? Wallace's revitalisation theory (1956), Hall and Hord's Processural Structure (1986) and Hall, Wallace, and Dossett's Concerns-Based Adoption Model (1973) are used to describe the cultural revitalisation taking place with the introduction of middle schooling into Australia and specifically within 3 Queensland middle schools. Results have highlighted gaps and tension points that need to be resolved before any widespread cultural transformation can be claimed.     

Faculty perceptions of deans' and department chairpersons' management functions

The present study examined the patterns of perceived management functions of deans and department chairpersons in three schools: social sciences, physical sciences and medical school. In all schools, deans were perceived as paying utmost attention to outside activities, and least attention to inside activities. The study explored the relationships between personal career data and scales of perceived managerial functions on one hand, and between job satisfaction and management functions on the other hand. Articles were found to be negatively correlated with perceptions of managerial functions in all schools. Seniority, rank, and tenure were positively associated with inside activities of the dean and the chairperson in the social sciences. Managerial functions were positively related especially to satisfaction with governance. The implications of the results were discussed and elaborated.     

Equity Traps Redux: Inequitable Access to Foreign Language Courses for African American High School Students

Although much of the current educational research literature on achievement gaps has focused on core curricular areas in public schools, few have focused on racially identifiable gaps in non-core areas such as high school foreign languages. These achievement, and thus advancement, gaps often result in the under-representation of students of color in higher level foreign language classes. This can have long-range negative consequences for students, such as lacking the foreign language credits needed for admission into major universities. Thus, in this qualitative study, we researched the perceptions of teachers, counselors, and school leaders at a racially diverse urban high school in central Texas concerning the enrollment, achievement, and advancement of African American students in high school foreign language courses. The results indicate that equity traps—deficit views, racial erasure, and paralogical beliefs and behaviors—advanced over a decade ago (McKenzie &; Scheurich, 2004 McKenzie, K. B., &; Scheurich, J. J. (2004). Equity traps: A useful construct for preparing principals to lead schools that are successful with racially diverse students. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(5), 601–632.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) are continuing and even thriving among teachers, counselors, and school leaders in public schools. These equity traps contribute to the foreign language achievement gap, resulting in diminished educational opportunities for African American students. Moreover, we propose that an additional equity trap is at play—organizational constraints—which are the structural obstacles that serve to abet and perpetuate the negative beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and assumptions exposed in the original equity traps. We conclude this article with recommendations for policy makers and practitioners and offer direction for future research.     

The effect of childhood bereavement on secondary school performance

This paper reports on a UK survey of GCSE examination results for children from schools throughout England who had lost a parent (n = 73) or sibling (n = 24) through death to establish whether this had a long‐term impact on school performance, levels of anxiety and self‐esteem, and school attendance. Participants were matched for school, age, gender and ethnicity, and a smaller group for socio‐economic status. The Speilberger Anxiety and Coopersmith self‐esteem inventories were administered alongside a customised family history questionnaire.

Bereaved participants underachieved significantly depending upon age, gender, and parents' employment history. There was also a significant rise in anxiety among the parentally bereaved group. School attendance seemed unaffected. Childhood bereavement appears to be a robust factor in underachievement. The totality of the survey findings is discussed prospectively in this paper.     

Principals of audit: testing,data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Historically, school leaders have occupied a somewhat ambiguous position within networks of power. On the one hand, they appear to be celebrated as what Ball (2003 Ball, S., 2003. The teacher's soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of education policy, 18 (2), 215–228.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has termed the ‘new hero of educational reform'; on the other, they are often ‘held to account’ through those same performative processes and technologies. These have become compelling in schools and principals are ‘doubly bound’ through this. Adopting a Foucauldian notion of discursive production, this paper addresses the ways that the discursive ‘field’ of ‘principal’ (within larger regimes of truth such as schools, leadership, quality and efficiency) is produced. It explores how individual principals understand their roles and ethics within those practices of audit emerging in school governance, and how their self-regulation is constituted through NAPLAN – the National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy. A key effect of NAPLAN has been the rise of auditing practices that change how education is valued. Open-ended interviews with 13 primary and secondary school principals from Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales asked how they perceived NAPLAN's impact on their work, their relationships within their school community and their ethical practice.     

The effects of school-based parental involvement on academic achievement at the child and elementary school level: A longitudinal study

Policymakers view parental involvement (PI) as a crucial component of school reform efforts, but evidence of its effect on student achievement is equivocal. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort dataset, we examined the long-term impact on student- and school-level achievement of three types of school-based PI: PI to help an individual's own child (private-good PI), PI to improve the school (public-good PI), and PI through peer networking. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that all three types raised student-level achievement in mathematics but only private-good PI was associated with reading achievement. Public-good PI and parent networking boosted school-level achievement. Public- and private-good PI were more strongly associated with student-level mathematics achievement for high socioeconomic status (SES) students; aggregated private-good PI was more strongly related to school-level achievement in low-SES schools. These results provide empirical evidence about the effectiveness of school-based PI, but also suggest a need for schools to explore more effective ways to leverage the social capital of low-SES families.     

Peer acceptance of students with and without inclusion experience towards students with special needs in unisex schools of Tehran

This study assessed the level of peer acceptance towards students with disabilities in schools of Tehran, Iran (schools are all unisex in this country). The sample included 502 elementary school students in grades three through five (9–11 years old) who had a classmate with hearing impairment or physical disability (motor disability), and 120 boys and girls from schools without inclusive classrooms. Peer acceptance was measured through the use of the translated version of the Acceptance Scale developed by Voeltz (1980 Voeltz, L.M. 1980. Children's attitudes toward handicapped peers. American Journal of Mental Deficiency 84, no. 5: 455–464.[PubMed] , [Google Scholar]) which proved to be highly reliable (α = .83). The following factors were taken into consideration: (1) type of school, (2) nature of disability, and (3) gender. The findings with regard to the overall comparison between the two types of schools indicated that there was a significant difference between the two in favour of schools with inclusive classrooms (z = ?7.24, p < .001). The between-school comparison tests considering the type of disability and gender indicated that both of these factors do play a significant role in the degree to which his/her peers accept a student with disability. Nature of possible factors impacting the obtained differences in the results is discussed. The inclusion is young in this country and lots have to be done in this area; the outcomes from this study help provide a stronger research base which is vital for informed planning and expansion of future inclusive education efforts in the country.     

Getting Inside the Black Box: Examining How the Operation of Charter Schools Affects Performance

In recent years, a series of articles have examined the performance of charter schools with mixed results. Some of this research has shown that charter school performance varies by charter type or the age of the school (Bifulco &; Ladd, 2006 Bifulco, R. and Ladd, H. 2006. The impact of charter schools on student achievement: Evidence from North Carolina. Education Finance and Policy, 1: 50–90. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Buddin &; Zimmer, 2005 Buddin, R. and Zimmer, R. 2005. A closer look at charter school student achievement. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 24: 351–372. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hanushek, Kain, &; Rivkin, 2002 Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., &; Rivkin, S. G. (2002). The impact of charter schools on academic achievement. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from http://http://www.nber.org/～confer/2002/hiedf02/KAIN.pdf  [Google Scholar]; Sass, 2006 Sass, T. R. 2006. Charter schools and student achievement in Florida. Education Finance and Policy, 1: 91–122. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, this research has not examined the school attributes that lead to high- or low-achieving charter schools. In this article, we examine how student achievement varies with school operational features using student-level achievement and survey data for charter and a matched-set of traditional public schools from California. We did not find operational characteristics that were consistently related with student achievement, but we did identify some features that are more important at different grade levels or in charter schools versus in traditional public schools. We also examined the relationship between greater autonomy within schools, which is a major tenet of the charter movement, and student achievement and found very little evidence that greater autonomy leads to improved student achievement.     

Family poverty,school-based parental involvement,and policy-focused protective factors in kindergarten

Multilevel models of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 19,375) revealed that the negative association between family poverty and school-based parental involvement in education varied according to family and school factors targeted by large-scale policy interventions. Specifically, the association was weaker when parents and teachers had higher levels of educational attainment. In contrast, the association was stronger when schools had greater parent outreach. Also, the moderating role of parent education was stronger for two stably partnered biological parents than for other parents. These findings underscore the need to examine protective factors in research on the family process model and shed light on policy-amenable factors that potentially improve the early educational experiences of poor children.