Benjamin G. Gibbs, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Over the course of 2 years, we have completed an ambitious project. Across three diverse elementary schools, from the years 2011 to 2012, we interviewed over 110 parents and almost 20 teachers, principals and administrators. We also conducted surveys of a majority of elementary school parents, and attended all schools activities.
We have completed 3 reports (see attached for an example) and have presented findings at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno this past year at the American Educational Research Association in Vancouver. We are nearly completion of two manuscripts based on our data that are close to be submitted (see attached for an example).
I feel confident that this grant was well used. I have employed nearly 40 students at different levels throughout the entirety of the project. This has been a student-run project, with a motivated Masters student managing the project with undergraduates interviewing, transcribing and coding the data. Three of the students involved are now in Masters programs and continue to work on the project (with several more to hear back from schools shortly). These students have experienced the research process in its entirety, from creation to setbacks to ultimate production of new knowledge.
Key Students Involved:
Ashley Larsen (Senior, Sociology Major, applications in for Sociology Doctoral programs)
Co-presenter of “Parental Involvement in Schools: Conceptualizing Active from Passive Types of Involvement” Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno in 2013
Co-author of “Asset or Burden? Perceptions of School-Based Parental Involvement across
Three Elementary Schools” to be submitted to Elementary School Journal
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Woodland Elementary” Final Report.
Brent Hutchison (Senior, Sociology Major, applications in for Sociology Doctoral programs)
Co-presenter of “Administrative Perspectives of Parental Involvement in Schools: Asset or Burden?”
Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno, 2013
Co-author of “Asset or Burden? Perceptions of School-Based Parental Involvement across Three Elementary Schools” to be submitted to Elementary School Journal
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Woodland Elementary” Final Report, 2013.
Bryce Hurst (Began as Junior, now a MSW graduate student)
Co-presenter of “Administrative Perspectives of Parental Involvement in Schools: Asset or Burden?”
Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno, 2013
Co-author of “Asset or Burden? Perceptions of School-Based Parental Involvement across Three Elementary Schools” to be submitted to Elementary School Journal
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Riverside Elementary” Final Report, 2013.
Dustin Steinacker (Began as a senior, now a MPA graduate student)
Co-presenter of “Administrative Perspectives of Parental Involvement in Schools: Asset or Burden?”
Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno, 2013
Co-author of “Involved, but Not in PTA: Comparing Survey-Based Measures of High Parental Involvement with a Qualitative Approach” to be submitted to Sociology of Education
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Canyon Elementary” Final Report, 2013.
Annie Nelson (Senior, Public Health Major)
Co-presenter of “Parental Involvement in Schools: Conceptualizing Active from Passive Types of Involvement” Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Reno, 2013
Co-author of “Involved, but Not in PTA: Comparing Survey-Based Measures of High Parental
Involvement with a Qualitative Approach” to be submitted to Sociology of Education
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Riverside Elementary” Final Report, 2013.
Miles Marsala (Began as Junior, French Major, now a Masters student in Sociology)
Presented at the Pacific Sociology Association in Reno, 2013
Co-author of “Involved, but Not in PTA: Comparing Survey-Based Measures of High Parental
Involvement with a Qualitative Approach” to be submitted to Sociology of Education
Co-author of “Parental Involvement at Canyon Elementary” Final Report, 2013.
Miriam Clark (Began as a Sociology Masters student, now a project manager, Oregon Social Learning Center)
Project Manager of the Study
Co-presenter of “Contextualizing Parental Involvement Across Measurements, Outcomes, and Immigration Backgrounds.” Presented at the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada, 2012.
Craid Alder (Began as Senior, Sociology Major, now a Teach for American teacher in Baltimore)
Co-presenter of “Contextualizing Parental Involvement Across Measurements, Outcomes, and Immigration Backgrounds.” Presented at the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada, 2012.
Michelle Rivera (Began as a Senior, Sociology, now in the field of applied linguistics)
Managed the Spanish interviews, translations.
20-30 other students, some volunteer, some paid. Many transcribers.
Description of the results/findings of the project:
Involved, but Not in PTA:
Comparing Survey-Based Measures of High Parental Involvement with a Qualitative Approach
Current measures of school-based parental involvement are diverse and most commonly survey based (Epstein 1995; Domina 2005), and a less common approach is the use of interview and/or observation methods (Lareau 1996). Evidence that school-based parental involvement matters for student outcomes has recently been questioned. We argue that one way to reconcile the evidence is to better understand what constitutes as “high” parental involvement. Taking a mix-method approach, we conducted 131 interviews with parents and administrators across three distinct elementary schools. We used a conventional survey approach to measure high involvement and compared results with our more qualitative assessment from parent interviews in schools. We find that 82% of parents that we considered highly involved from interview data did not participate in PTA—a common marker of high involvement using survey data. Other comparisons revealed unique patterns that demonstrate how critical methodologies are for examining parent involvement.
Asset or Burden?:
Perceptions of School-Based Parental Involvement across Three Elementary Schools
Although school-based parental involvement is widely promoted as a solution to achievement gaps in schools, perceptions of what constitutes effective parent involvement may vary across schools and groups of parents. We assess 131 qualitative interviews of principals, administrators, teachers and parents across three diverse elementary schools to untangle what conditions define parental involvement in schools as an asset or burden. We find tension between principals and teachers, and a leveling of expectations by teachers serving large numbers of disadvantaged students.
Description of how the budget was spent:
Over the course of 2 years, the majority of the budget was spent on student wages. The largest expense was transcribing about 130 qualitative interviews and coding (~$15,000). We met weekly with a team of students ranging from 5-8 working about 10 hours a week. This amounted to about $22,000 over the course of 2 years. Additional money was used for incentives (interviews and surveys) (~$1500) and a smaller sum was dedicated to travel to the AERA conference in Vancouver (2012) and PSA conference in Reno.