Variables in the Model
The chart on pp. 277-280 shows examples of variables for each section of the conceptual model. Some or all of these or related variables may be included in a measurement model to study the background, design, and effects of homework on students, teaching practice, and family practice. Of course, no single study of homework can include all of these variables, but studies may select variables that make sense in well-specified theoretical and measurement models.
FIGURE 3.6 Reasearch Model for Studying Effects of Homework
1
Examples of Variables that May Be Addressed in Studies of the Nature and Effects of Homework
1.
Student and Family Background Gender
Race/ethnicity
Parent education
Other family socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, e.g.:
• Occupation
• Income
• Family size
Student program/curriculum track/ability group
Student personality variables affecting homework completion, e.g.:
• Self-concept of ability
• Locus of control
• Diligence, persistence
• Neatness
• Creativity
Student prior or starting achievement
Student prior or starting attitudes about school, homework
Peer/friendship group homework patterns
Student part-time work hours/schedule
Home conditions supporting learning, e.g.:
• Place for homework
• Time for homework
• Supplies for homework
• Resources for learning (e.g., books, newspapers, art materials)
Climate and support for homework, e.g.:
• Interruptions
• Competing responsibilities
• Interactions
• Final check
Parental knowledge about school and classroom
Parental connections with school and teachers
Community resources/library/museums
2.
Teacher Background and Practice Education
Teaching experience
Quality of teaching
Subject specialization
Attitudes toward students
Philosophy and attitudes about homework
Practices of family and community involvement
3.
School Organization and Policy Grade span
Program definition, e.g.:
• Magnet
• Charter
• Other special school program
Community characteristics
Aggregate student/family population characteristics
District, school, and classroom homework policies
Standards for homework
Supervision of teachers’ lessons and homework
Articulation of feeder and receiver schools
4.
Classroom Organization and Classwork Grade level
Subject
Teacher planning time
Interdisciplinary connections across subjects
Classroom organization, e.g., TARGET structures of:
• Task
• Authority
• Reward
• Grouping
• Evaluation
• Time to organize classwork
Plan for homework in instruction
Classroom behavior, discipline
External interruptions
5.
Assigning Homework (by Teacher) Amount and time expected
Frequency
Design/form/novelty/diversity/level of interest
Clarity
Coordination with curriculum
Coordination with student ability, e.g.:
• Group/individual ability
• Common/individualized assignments
Content:
• Review
• Remediation
• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Enrichment, extension of skills
• Completion of classwork
Purpose:
• Practice and mastery of knowledge/skills
• Preparation for new lesson
• Participation, enjoyment of learning
• Parent involvement:
• Parent-child communication, interaction
• Parent-teacher communications
• Peer interactions
• Public relations
• Policy
Alternative assignments, extra credit assignments
Makeup assignments due to absence
After-school activities
Parents’ roles in identifying issues for homework assignments
Students’ roles in identifying issues for homework assignments
6.
Completing Homework (by Student) Time spent:
• On assigned homework
• On unassigned homework
Location:
• In-school time for homework
• After-school place for homework
Level of interest in subject, topic
Use of special skills or talents
Parent support, monitoring, assistance
Parent pressure, conflict, avoidance
Parent communications with teachers, e.g.:
• Daily homework log
• Computerized messages
• Required signature
Competing activities for time at home, e.g.:
• Chores
• TV
• Internet
• Part-time work
• Sports or talents
• Other lessons
• Responsibilities
Availability of peers for interactions, and extent of interactions of friends/classmates /siblings by telephone, in the neighborhood, and other ways
7.
Returning and Following up on Homework (by Teacher) Timing of return
Frequency of collection, checking
Feedback, e.g.:
• Correction
• Evaluation
• Tally
• Grade
• Comment
Follow-up to redo/resubmit assignment
Role of parent after return
Rewards/penalties/consequences for student
Class time, other school time, after-school time to make up work
Homework part of report card grade
Extra homework assignments
Notification of parents
8.
Effects on Student Learning and Development Completion rate, quantity
Completion quality, accuracy, creativity
Improved learning:
• Readiness for next lesson
• Classroom subject tests
• Report card grades
• Achievement test scores
Improved behavior and attitudes toward:
• School
• Subjects
• Homework
• Learning
• Teachers
Attendance:
• Motivation to learn and to work as a student
• Willingness to work to improve
• Continued enrollment in school
• Selection of advanced courses (
• Self-control/discipline
• Positive self-concept of ability
9.
Effects on Teaching Practice Organization of instructional time:
• Pace of lessons
• Homework as segment of instructional time
Introduction of homework, questions from students
Follow-up of homework, extension, enrichment
Design of homework and remedial instruction or assignments for individuals
Communications with parents and students
Attention to community and family conditions, interests, talents, and resources
10.
Effects on Family Practice Organization of home environment to support student homework
Frequency of interactions with child on homework
Content of interactions with child on homework
Quality of interactions with child on homework
Parent attitudes:
• About quality of school, teacher(s)
• About responsiveness of school and teacher(s) to child
• Importance of instructional program for preparing child for future
• Understanding of what child is learning in school
Quality of communications with teachers
Support for school program
ACTIVITY
Variables that Affect Homework and Learning
Photocopy and complete the chart in
Figure 3.7, or create it on your computer.
a. Select a grade level and a school subject that interest you.
b. In the chart on the next page, list one variable that interests you from each section of the model given above. For each variable, describe one problem that the variable may cause in the design, conduct, or results of homework and one solution for correcting the problem to improve the homework process. An example for a School Organization and Policy variable is shown at the top of the chart.
Grade level selected: _________________
Subject selected: _________________
FIGURE 3.7 Variables that Affect Homework Design and Completion
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
Homework is not cost free. There are investments that students, teachers, and parents make for students to complete homework. For example, it “costs” teachers planning time to design homework that will be assigned to students. The investments in homework should yield benefits for students, teachers, and parents. Identify one cost and one benefit of homework for each group listed in the chart on the next page. Include one reason why you think each of your listings is a cost or a benefit.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
Interview Students about Homework
Reading 3.8 uses data from teachers, principals, parents, and students to better understand homework and its links with student achievement and behavior.
a. Interview two students who are in different grade levels.
b. Audio-record or take notes on the students’ responses to the following. Ask:
1. What is the best homework assignment that you remember?
2. What is the worst homework assignment that you remember?
c. For the best and worst examples, ask:
1. Describe the homework assignment you remember.
2. Do you remember the purpose of this homework?
3. About how long did this homework take you to complete?
4. Did a lesson in class lead to the homework, or did the homework lead to a lesson later on? Or was this just a separate activity?
5. Did you show this homework to a parent, friend, or someone else?
6. What made the assignment especially good/especially bad?
d. Also check each student’s age, gender, and grade level, and ask each student:
1. General attitude about school: Do you like school a lot, a little, not much, or not at all?
2. Average grades: Do you get mostly As, Bs, Cs, Ds, or Fs in school?
e. Summarize the students’ responses. Write a reflective paragraph on whether the students’ reactions to homework were thoughtful or uninformed. Did the students’ reactions have any implications for teachers’ designs of good homework? Do you see any connections between the students’ experiences or ideas about homework with the students’ age, grade level, gender, attitude about school, or report card grades?
f. Optional class activity: Combine the data collected by all students in the class. Analyze one or more connection between the interviewed students’ attitudes about homework with their grade level (or report card grades or attitudes about school).
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
Most studies of homework indicate that, regardless of their starting skills, if students do their homework, they are more likely to improve their skills and do better in school than similar students who do not do their homework. One interesting result discussed in Reading 3.8 is that in the elementary grades struggling students spend more time than do advanced students completing their homework. By the middle and high school grades, data indicate that advanced students spend more time on homework than do slower students.
1. Do you think it is possible to design homework that will encourage middle and high school students at all ability levels to spend the time they need to complete their homework? Explain.
2. Optional class activity: Discuss these ideas in class. Identify the most interesting ideas for improving the design and assignment of homework in middle and high schools to encourage all students to complete their assignments regardless of their ability levels.
ACTIVITY
Reading to Understand Homework
a. Early and recent research on homework adds information to the data presented in Readings 3.8 and 3.9. Select an article, chapter, or book from the following list, or select another recent research report on homework, and answer the questions on the next page.
Balli, S. J. (1998). When mom and dad help: Student reflections on parent involvement with homework. Journal of Research and Development in Education 31: 142-146.
Cooper, H. (1989). Homework. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Cooper, H., and J. C. Valentine. (2001). Using research to answer practical questions about homework. Educational Psychologist 36: 143-154.
Corno, L., and J. Xu. (2004). Homework as the job of childhood. Theory into Practice 43: 227-233.
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., A. C. Battiato, J. M. Walker, R. P. Reed, J. M. Dejong, and K. P. Jones. (2001). Parental involvement in homework. Educational Psychologist 36: 195-209.
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., O. C. Bassler, and R. Burow. (1995). Parents’ reported involvement in students’ homework: Strategies and practices. Elementary School Journal 95: 435-450.
Hyde, J. S., N. M., Else-Quest, M. W. Alibali, E. Knuth, and T. Romberg. (2006). Mathematics in the home: Homework practices and mother-child interactions doing mathematics. Journal of Mathematical Behavior 25: 136-152.
Keith, T. Z., and V. A. Cool. (1992). Testing models of school learning: Effects of quality of instruction, motivation, academic coursework, and homework on academic achievement. School Psychology Quarterly 7: 207-226.
MetLife. (2007). The MetLife survey of the American teacher: The homework experience. New York: MetLife, Inc.
Patall, E. A., H. Cooper, and J. C. Robinson. (2008). Parent involvement in homework: A research synthesis. Review of Educational Research 78: 1039-1104.
Van Voorhis, F. L. (In press). Adding families to the homework equation: A longitudinal study of mathematics achievement. Education and Urban Society.
———. (2003). Interactive homework in middle school: Effects on family involvement and students’ science achievement. Journal of Educational Research 96: 323-339.
Villas Boas, A. (1998). The effects of parental involvement in homework on student achievement in Portugal and Luxembourg. Childhood Education 74: 367-371.
Xu, J. (2004). Family help and homework management in urban and rural secondary schools. Teachers College Record 106: 1786-1803.
b. Answer the following questions about the article, chapter, or book that you selected:
1. List the title, author(s), date, and place of publication.
2. Identify three important variables that are discussed or analyzed in the publication you selected. Tell where you would place each of these variables in the 10 sections of
Figure 3.6.
3. Identify one main result of the study you selected. Explain whether and how this result increases an understanding of the design and effects of homework.
COMMENT
Paired Data from Parents and Students on Homework
Reports from parents and students in Readings 3.8 and 3.9 suggest that weekends are underused as time for interactive homework. Parents overwhelmingly report that they have time on weekends to talk with their children about school and to help with homework. Students complete more homework and extra work on weekends if their teachers frequently involve their families in learning activities at home. Some schools give no homework on weekends as a matter of policy. Yet weekends may provide family-friendly time for students to talk with someone at home about something interesting they are learning in class and about important decisions they must make about schoolwork and activities.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
1. Identify a grade level that interests you.
2. Make a chart summarizing one pro and one con argument from the perspective of a teacher, parent, and student in the grade level you selected on the following:
a. Assigning homework to students on weekends.
b. Assigning homework on weekends that requires students to talk with a parent or other family member about something interesting they are learning in class or about a school-linked decision.
3. Write a paragraph from your point of view about assigning homework on weekends in the grade level you selected.
4. An important result described in Reading 3.8 is that children who like to talk about school at home complete more homework and have higher academic skills than students who do not talk about school at home. This finding raises two “chicken or egg” questions:
• Which came first, doing well in school or talking about school at home?
• Which came first, doing poorly in school or not talking about school at home?
These questions require longitudinal studies to monitor changes in skills over time, but you can begin to explore these issues by discussing the following questions:
a. For the grade level you selected, describe two ways in which children show their distress or anxiety about homework.
b. For the grade level you selected, give one idea of how a teacher might:
1. Design homework assignments that minimize distress and anxiety.
2. Encourage children and parents to talk about schoolwork at home.
c. Which do you think comes first, doing well in school or talking about school at home? Discuss or write a paragraph about one activity that links home and school that might lead students on the positive path you selected.
d. Which do you think comes first, doing poorly in school or not talking about school at home? Discuss or write a paragraph about one activity that links home and school that might lead students on the negative path you selected.
CROSSCUTTING THEMES
Three quite different themes cut across the readings in this chapter:
1. Partnerships change across school levels as students mature and as school programs increase in complexity.
2. Partnerships are affected by the school authority and decision-making structures.
3. Researchers must use multiple measures to study the nature and effects of school, family, and community partnerships.
The following comments and questions will help you explore these crosscutting themes.
COMMENT
Grade Level and Academic Subject Differences
The theory of overlapping spheres of influence assumes that school, family, and community responsibilities and activities will change over time across grade levels and from teacher to teacher. The readings in this chapter document that on average, elementary schools involve families more than do middle schools. In most middle schools, teachers give less information to parents, and parents report less involvement in their children’s education than in the younger grades. Reading 3.6 reports, however, that parents of middle-grade students want to be as informed and involved as parents of younger children, although they require different information and must conduct different interactions with their early adolescent children.
The data also reveal differences in practices among teachers of different subjects. Reading 3.1 shows that teachers were most comfortable in the early grades involving parents in reading and reading-related activities at home. Data in Reading 3.3 show that reading and English teachers involved families more than other teachers, even in the middle grades.
The data about what is typical or normative in the elementary and middle grades raise many questions about the age-appropriate family and community involvement activities that could or should be conducted across the grades and by teachers of different subjects.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
1. Give examples from the readings and your experiences to address the following questions. (
Optional: Interview a teacher, parent, or student about these questions. Identify your source, the grade level, and the responses.)
a. How do school, family, and community partnerships presently change from one grade level to the next? Provide two examples.
b. How do school, family, and community partnerships presently vary in different school subjects? Provide two examples.
c. How do partnership activities presently change from the beginning to the end of the same school year? Provide two examples.
d. How are communications from home to school affected when children move to a new school (e.g., in the middle of the year, at the start of a new school year, or when they graduate to the next level of schooling)? Provide two examples.
2. Use the results reported in the readings in this chapter and your own ideas to discuss:
a. Should the nature (design of practices, activities, subject matter) of involvement change as children move from the elementary to the middle grades? Provide two examples that support your view.
b. Should the extent (time, number of activities) of involvement change in the elementary and middle grades? Provide two examples that support your views.
COMMENT
Transitions to New Schools and New Grade Levels
Parents, teachers, and students must create new partnerships every year. Parents often are unsure about what is expected by their children’s new teachers or how to help their children in new grade levels or new schools. Teachers are unfamiliar with most new students and families who enter their classes each year. Among many unknowns, students are unaware of whether and how their new teachers will keep families informed and involved about school programs and students’ progress. For these and other reasons, commitments to school, family, and community partnerships must be renewed every year.
Data show dramatic declines in involvement after each transition to new levels of schooling (i.e., from preschool to elementary school, from elementary to middle school, and from middle to high school). Also, if students transfer to new schools during the school year, families are often uninformed about the school and how to become involved. Educators must have ways to welcome and connect with entering students and their families whenever they arrive at school.
Transitions are risky but important and exciting points of change and promise in students’ lives. Appropriate and important school, family, and community partnerships should minimize problems and maximize success for students at points of transition.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
1. Select a school transition that interests you (e.g., preschool to elementary school, elementary to middle school, middle to high school, or high school to postsecondary education/training). Think about students and their families entering a new school at the transition point that you selected.
a. Identify or design and describe one activity that would help students and parents make a successful transition to the new level of schooling that you selected.
b. Identify or design and describe one activity that would give the teachers and administrators the information they need about the children and families who are making a transition to the new level of schooling that you selected.
2. Select a grade level that interests you. Think about students and their families entering a new grade level within their present school (not a transition to a new school).
a. Identify or design and describe one activity that could be implemented at the start of a new school year to give parents the information they need to help their children make a successful transition to the grade level that you selected.
b. Identify or design and describe one activity that could be implemented at the start of a new school year to give the teachers and administrators the information they need to make a good start with students and their families in the grade level you selected.
3. Optional class activity: Share and critique examples of activities to involve families at points of transition from school to school and from grade to grade. Add the most promising examples to a resource notebook or electronic idea file for use in practice or for research and development.
COMMENT
Student Mobility
A study of the effects of family mobility indicates that elementary school students in two-parent homes who move up to seven times experience no more academic or behavioral problems than students who do not move. However, even one move increases the academic and behavioral problems of elementary school students in other family arrangements, such as mother-only, step-, or blended families, and other family forms (Tucker, Marx, and Long, 1998). The researchers statistically accounted for many family characteristics (such as parent education, income, and recency and distance of moves) to explore the effects of diverse family arrangements and the number of family moves on students’ success in school.
Two variables missing from the study should be included in new research. First, it is important to know whether the children had academic or behavior problems before they moved, to determine whether mobility and family arrangements are responsible for academic and behavioral problems. Second, it is important to know what schools do to welcome and orient new students and their families with useful information on school policies and parent involvement. Some school practices may reduce the stress of moving to a new community by integrating new students and families into the school community.
Research is needed on whether and how schools with comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships intervene to reduce the risks of mobility to student success in school, especially in single-parent homes, stepparent families, or blended families. A related study indicates that students in military families are not particularly affected when a parent is deployed as part of military duty (TDY—temporary duty assignments) (Thompson, 1998). In this study, one influential variable was parental satisfaction with the school’s efforts to help students cope with the TDY. Some students are relatively resilient when their families move or when parents are temporarily absent, particularly if the school and community offer helpful information and support during turbulent times.
If schools are aware of stressful family situations and take action to assist students and their families, student achievement and behavior may not be as negatively affected as when families and students are left on their own to adjust to new schools and changes in family life.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
1. In studies of effects of mobility on student success in school, why is it important to know whether schools conduct practices to welcome, inform, and involve families at school and at home?
2. Why might these partnership practices be particularly important to single parents in new neighborhoods and schools?
3. In studies of effects of mobility on student success in school, why is it important for researchers to measure whether youngsters were good or poor students, well or poorly behaved prior to the move from one school to another?
COMMENT
The Authority Structure
School, family, and community partnerships are part of the authority structure of schools (see comment on authority and control in Chapter 2). The authority structure is defined, in part, by who participates in school decisions; how families are informed and involved in their children’s education; and how often and why students, families, educators, and others in the community interact.
The distribution and definition of power are altered by the way teachers, administrators, parents, and others in communities think about, talk about, and act to share responsibilities for education. Decisions about schools may be shared on any or all topics, including school organization; management; staffing; curriculum; student motivation; instructional methods; annual evaluations and recognition of teachers, administrators, and students; school climate; and specific policies and programs.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
Use the articles and comments in this chapter to support your responses to the following questions:
1.
Teacher authority. Is teacher and administrator authority more like a pie or an empire?
a. How do you view a teacher’s authority? Is it like a pie: If some authority is shared with families, there is less of the authority pie left, and, therefore, the teacher loses power? Or is it like an empire: If some authority is shared and alliances are made with families, the teacher gains power, influence, and effectiveness? Or do you view the effects of partnerships on a teacher’s authority in some other way?
b. Explain your ideas.
c. Discuss the above questions, substituting “principal” for “teacher.” Does the substitution affect your response? Why or why not?
2.
Family influence. Is family influence on children weakened or enhanced when children go to school?
a. How do you view the effects of school, family, and community partnerships on the influence families have to socialize, educate, motivate, and encourage their children? Do partnerships weaken and diffuse family authority and influence because teachers and others educate and socialize children? Or do partnerships strengthen and enhance family influence by providing parents with information and opportunities to interact with their children and educators about school decisions and school life? Or do you view the effects of partnerships on families’ authority and influence in some other way?
b. Explain your ideas.
3.
Student independence. Is student independence boosted or delayed by school, family, and community partnerships?
a. How do you view the effects of school, family, and community partnerships on student self-direction and independence? Do partnerships act as a catalyst through which parents, teachers, and others guide students toward greater independence? Or do partnerships act as an inhibitor, with collaborative activities delaying independence and keeping students dependent for too long on teachers, parents, or others? Or do you view the effects of partnerships on student independence in some other way?
b. Explain your ideas.
COMMENT
Using Multiple Measures, Reporters, and Methods to Understand Family Involvement and Student Outcomes
Several readings in this chapter report multiple measures to study school, family, and community partnerships. The studies include (1) two or more measures from the same reporter, (2) two or more reporters on similar or related measures, or (3) multiple measures and multiple reporters. These techniques may produce consistent or inconsistent patterns of results that instantly confirm or dispute conclusions.
For example, in one study we identified teacher-leaders by using two measures, one from teachers’ self-reports about their partnership practices and one from principals’ ratings of the same teachers’ practices. The principals’ ratings confirmed or refuted teachers’ self-reports on the extent to which they involved families of their students. The measures were cross-checked to identify concordant cases of teachers who were confirmed leaders who were particularly effective in their connections with families. The multiple measures created a better, more reliable independent variable of “teacher-leaders” than either measure could do alone.
As another example, in Reading 3.9, multiple measures were used to determine if reports about the level of family involvement from students, teachers, and principals produced consistent effects on students’ attitudes, behaviors, and experiences. In this study, perspectives of different reporters at home and at school supported the conclusion that family involvement was linked to positive attitudes and higher student productivity.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
1. Why might a researcher want to use two, three, or more measures of the same concept from the same reporter? Describe one problem that is solved and one problem that is created by this method of inquiry.
2. Why might a researcher want to obtain information from two or more reporters on the same concept? Describe one problem that is solved and one problem that is created by this method of inquiry.
3. Research on family and community involvement may be conducted using many different methods of data collection and analyses. There is no one right way to study partnerships. Various methods contribute different kinds of information to increase understanding and to raise new questions for future studies. For example, Readings 3.1 and 3.2 present quantitative analyses of survey data and qualitative analyses of teachers’ comments, respectively.
a. What do quantitative analyses of survey research (Reading 3.1) contribute that cannot be learned only by observations or “testimonies” about programs?
b. What do the personal comments of teachers (Reading 3.2) contribute that cannot be learned from quantitative analyses of survey data?
COMMENT
Effects of Partnerships on Students
Studies of effects on students of school, family, and community partnerships have increased and improved over time (Jeynes, 2005). Most early research did not control for students’ prior skills when studying whether family involvement increased student achievement. When prior skills are omitted from such analyses, the results mainly indicate that high-achieving students have families who are involved or that families are involved when students are high achieving.
Also, most early research did not account for what schools do to involve families in various ways. When school programs and teacher practices are omitted from such analyses, results mainly indicate that some families become involved on their own and that their children benefit from self-initiated family involvement.
Thus, information on students’ prior skills and on the nature and quality of school programs and teacher practices of partnership is needed to fully answer questions about whether family involvement increases the achievement of students with initially different skill levels.
Analyses in Reading 3.7 statistically control for students’ prior skills, teacher quality, and other variables that affect learning to identify the independent effects on students’ standardized achievement test scores of teacher practices of involving families. The data link teachers’ practices, parents’ responses, and children’s achievements.
If you see studies—early or new—that do not account for students’ starting skills or behaviors, or for schools’ practices to involve all families, you should be wary of claims that family involvement increases student achievement or other positive results. Such studies may be showing only that good students usually have parents who are more involved at school and at home.
Similarly, you should be wary of correlational results from cross-sectional or anecdotal data that show that family involvement links to poor achievement or problem behavior. This pattern—reported in Reading 3.8—may simply indicate that slower students require extra help at a particular point in time. The help they receive will vary in quality and may or may not have a positive impact on the problem at hand.
Researchers need well-specified measurement models and data that include students’ starting skills to identify whether and how family involvement affects students’ skills, achievement test scores, or behavior. Quantitative and qualitative studies must account for these complexities to address such questions as the following: Do school, family, and community partnerships lead to better achievement or other positive results for all students? If students need and receive help from school, home, and the community, do they improve their skills or attitudes?
ACTIVITY
Hypothetical Study
Choose question A or B, according to your interests.
a. Students in Lincoln Elementary School start the fifth grade with very different reading and math skills and with different histories of family involvement. The fifth graders are placed in three classrooms with teachers who differ in how much and how well they involve parents in reading and math. Suppose Lincoln Elementary School has set goals that all fifth graders will move on to middle school with at least sixth-grade reading and math skills. Two of many possible research questions linked to school, family, and community partnerships are:
• Do students have higher math and/or reading skills if their parents are involved in their education at school and at home?
• Do more students graduate with at least sixth-grade math and/or reading skills if their teachers conduct activities to involve all families with their children in these subjects?
How might you study these topics to help Lincoln Elementary School learn whether and how well it is reaching its reading and math goals?
1. Select one of the bulleted questions above that interests you.
2. There are many methods to use to address these questions. Outline the steps for studying the question that you selected. How many teachers, students, and families will be involved in your hypothetical study and in what ways? How many months or years will your study take?
3. List three major variables that you would include in your study and explain why each variable is important.
b. Students enter Roosevelt High School in the ninth grade with very different reading, math, and other skills and with different histories of family involvement. Each ninth grader has several teachers who have not done much in the past to involve students’ parents at school or in students’ learning activities and school decisions at home. Suppose Roosevelt High School has set a goal that at least 90 percent of all students who enter ninth grade will graduate from high school on time (in four years). Two of many possible research questions linked to school, family, and community partnerships are:
• Do entering students with similar backgrounds complete grade 12 and graduate from high school on time if their families are involved in their education at school and at home?
• If students fail one or more courses in grade 9, how are they helped by their school, family, and community to get back on the path to high school graduation? How successful are these students?
How might you study these topics to help Roosevelt High School learn whether or how well it is reaching its graduation goal?
1. Select one of the bulleted questions above that interests you.
2. There are many methods to use to address these questions. Outline how you might go about studying the question that you selected. How many teachers and students will be involved in your hypothetical study of Roosevelt High School? How many families will be included, and in what ways? How many months or years will your study take?
3. List three major variables that you would include in your study and explain why each variable is important.
c.
Optional class activity:
1. Share and discuss the designs of the hypothetical studies of Lincoln Elementary School and Roosevelt High School and the variables that students selected for their studies. Consider: Are the study procedures clear? Are the variables essential? If the proposed study were conducted, would the selected question be clearly addressed?
2. Discuss: Are the questions about fifth graders in Lincoln and high school students in Roosevelt equally easy to study? Explain your ideas.
COMMENT
Importance of Reading Original Research
Although literature reviews, syntheses, meta-analyses, annotated bibliographies, and other summaries (such as Reading 2.2) provide useful overviews of a field or topic, they do not replace original research. Syntheses of research ask you to accept the reviewers’ interpretations of large numbers of studies. They provide an efficient way to scan a field, but you also need to read original research to learn how an individual researcher conducts and reports a study. By reading original research (e.g., the readings in this chapter), you can consider:
• Are the sample and data adequate?
• Are the methods credible?
• Do the results add new knowledge to the field?
• What debatable issues are raised?
• What new questions should be studied to extend, confirm, or contest the reported results?
By reading original research, you should be able to frame your own studies more successfully or judge and select the most promising approaches for educational practice.
ACTIVITY
Reading Original Research
a. Select and read one original research article or book chapter—not a review or synthesis—on the effects of school, family, and community partnerships on students, teachers, administrators, or parents. The work may be a quantitative or qualitative study.
You may choose one reading in this chapter, a reference reported in this chapter, an article or chapter of original research in a book listed below, or one of the listed articles or chapters. Or you may select a recent article or chapter on your own.
Choose one chapter reporting an original research study in one of these books:
Booth, A., and J. Dunn (Eds.). (1996). Family-school links: How do they affect educational outcomes. Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bryk, A. S. and B. Schneider. (2002). Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Chavkin, N., (Eds.). (1993). Families and schools in a pluralistic society. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Deslandes, R., (Eds.). (2009). International perspectives on contexts, communities and evaluated innovative practices: Family-school-community partnerships. New York: Routledge.
Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Or choose one of the following articles:
Catsambis, S., and A. A. Beveridge. (2001). Does neighborhood matter? Family, neighborhood, and school influences on eighth grade math achievement. Sociological Focus 34: 435-457.
Grolnick, W. S., C. Benjet, C. O. Kurowski, and N. H. Apostoleris. (1997). Predicators of parent involvement in children’s schooling. Journal of Educational Psychology 89: 538-548.
Heymann, S. J., and A. Earle. (2000). Low-income parents: How do working conditions affect their opportunity to help school-age children at risk? American Educational Research Journal 37: 833-848.
Hill, N. E. (2004). Parent academic involvement as related to school behavior, achievement, and aspirations: Demographic variations across adolescence. Child Development 75: 1491-1509.
Ho, E. S., and J. D. Willms. (1996). Effects of parental involvement on eighth-grade achievement. Sociology of Education 69: 126-141.
Lee, V. E., and R. G. Croninger. (1994). The relative importance of home and school in development of literacy skills for middle-grade students. American Journal of Education 102: 286-329.
Lonigan, C. J., and G. J. Whitehurst. (1998). Relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 13: 263-290.
Lopez, G. R., J. D. Scribner, and K. Mahitivanichcha. (2001). Redefining parent involvement: Lessons from high-performing migrant-impacted schools. American Educational Research Journal 38: 253-288.
McBride, B. A., S. H. Schoppe-Sullivan, and H. Moon-Ho. (2005). The mediating role of fathers’ school involvement on student achievement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 26: 201-216.
Reynolds, A. J. and M. Clements. (2005). Parental involvement and children’s school success. In E. Patrikakou et al. (Eds.), School-family partnerships for student success (pp. 109-127). New York: Teachers College Press.
Sheldon, S. B. (2003). Linking school-family-community partnerships in urban elementary schools to student achievement on state tests. Urban Review 35: 149-165.
b. Answer the following questions about the article, chapter, or book that you selected.
1. List the full bibliographic information of the publication you selected.
2. In one or two paragraphs, summarize the main questions and main results of the study.
3. Describe in a sentence or two:
a. Were the sample and data adequate?
b. Were the variables clear and measures reliable?
c. In studies measuring student outcomes (e.g., achievement, behavior, attendance), were the measures of parental involvement theoretically linked to the outcome of interest?
d. Were the analyses and results convincing?
e. How did this study contribute to the knowledge base on school, family, and community partnerships?
c. Write two questions that you think should be studied to follow up on the results of the publication that you reviewed.
REFERENCES
Baker, D. P., and D. L. Stevenson. (1986). Mothers’ strategies for children’s school achievement: Managing the transition to high school. Sociology of Education 59: 156-166.
Benson, P. (1993, June). The troubled journey, and youth in single parent families. Source (Search Institute) 9(2): 1-3.
Cooper, H., and J. C. Valentine. (2001). Educational Psychologist: Special Issue on Homework 36(2).
Jeynes, W. (2005). A meta-analysis of the relation of parental involvement to urban elementary school student academic achievement. Urban Education 40: 237-269.
Thompson, E. K. (1998). The effects of military deployment on children’s adjustment at school. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Tucker, C. J., J. Marx, and L. Long. (1998). Moving on: Residential mobility and children’s school lives. Sociology of Education 71: 111-129.
