Facilitating Beneficial Home-Based Engagement
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2016-05-20
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Masters of Education
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a home-based journal activity on parent engagement and confidence in supporting students’ achievement. It was hypothesized that the journal activity would not affect parents’ self-rated engagement and confidence. Parent figures from 22 families in a Title I school in Laurel, MD were administered surveys before and after a three week intervention during which students wrote and shared daily journal entries with their parents who then responded with a daily written reply in the journals. T- tests comparing responses from the pre and post surveys resulted in retention of the null hypotheses. Although there was no statistically significant effect of the journal intervention on the parents’ assessed engagement and confidence, qualitative data from the survey and observations during the intervention suggested there were benefits from the intervention for some families. More research using larger samples, longer intervention time frames, and perhaps targeting specific academic behaviors is needed to thoroughly examine the effectiveness of journals or similar home-based interventions on parent engagement and confidence in supporting students’ achievement.