The effectiveness of parent-teacher conferences in strengthening family-school partnerships.

Most parents want their children to be successful in school and want to help them succeed (Mapp, 2003). When school personnel initiate practices inviting parents to the school, creating a welcoming environment for them, honoring their contributions, and connecting them to the school community, practices cultivate and sustain respectful, caring, and meaningful relationships between parents and school staff (Mapp, 2003). Regardless of economic, racial, ethnic, and educational backgrounds, there is a strong link between educational benefits to children and various forms of family engagement, such as encouragement to succeed academically, involvement in at-home activities such as help with homework, volunteerism in schools, and participation in governance activities (K. Mapp, 2003). Students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school, regardless of family income and demographics (Henderson and Mapp, 2002). Building family efficacy means that families are recognized as essential learning team members for their students. School educators understand that families are crucial and influential resources because they know their children best (Constantino, 2020). This quantitative research study examined the effectiveness of family-school partnerships at one University-Model® school in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where parents serve as co-teachers, and their engagement of day-to-day activities is critical for student success. The vision in creating this type of school model was to increase parental influence in academics and mentorship from kindergarten through 12th grade. This study examined how parent-teacher conferences affected parent self-efficacy. The conference cycle consisted of three meetings: the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year. The researcher structured the parent-teacher conferences on Karen Mapp's four components of the Dual Capacity Framework: connection, confidence, cognition, and capability. The effectiveness of the parent-teacher conferences was measured following the final conference cycle using a quantitative survey adapted from Panorama Education and the Harvard Family Engagement Project (2013).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Crosier, Susan A., 1971-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Eckert, Jonathan.

• Parent engagement.
• Self-efficacy.
• University model schools.
• Collaborative.
• Partnership.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13583

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13583