The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways African American families, with middle school students, view learning mathematics and engagement within a theme school environment. The participants in this study included nine parents and ten students at an urban Title I theme school. The data collection process included two focus group interviews, nineteen semi-structured individual interviews, journal entries from each participant and 15 documents disseminated to parents from the school and from the district. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) the parents’ understanding/confusion about the “new math” and the effects on parent engagement with mathematics, (b) the strong mathematical identities of the participants, and (c) the broader engagement from three major communities: the theme school community, the “village” community, and the home community which further promotes mathematical engagement.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways African American families, with middle school students, view learning mathematics and engagement within a theme school environment. The participants in this study included nine parents and ten students at an urban Title I theme school. The data collection process included two focus group interviews, nineteen semi-structured individual interviews, journal entries from each participant and 15 documents disseminated to parents from the school and from the district. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) the parents’ understanding/confusion about the “new math” and the effects on parent engagement with mathematics, (b) the strong mathematical identities of the participants, and (c) the broader engagement from three major communities: the theme school community, the “village” community, and the home community which further promotes mathematical engagement.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pappy, Cheryl D."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Corrie Davis","Dr. Amanda Richey"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-12-13T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-12-13T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:09Z","subjects":["parent engagement","middle school mathematics","African American families","theme schools","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/12","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Corrie Davis","Dr. Amanda Richey"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pappy, Cheryl D."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-12-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["parent engagement","middle school mathematics","African American families","theme schools","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/12"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways African American families, with middle school students, view learning mathematics and engagement within a theme school environment. The participants in this study included nine parents and ten students at an urban Title I theme school. The data collection process included two focus group interviews, nineteen semi-structured individual interviews, journal entries from each participant and 15 documents disseminated to parents from the school and from the district. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) the parents’ understanding/confusion about the “new math” and the effects on parent engagement with mathematics, (b) the strong mathematical identities of the participants, and (c) the broader engagement from three major communities: the theme school community, the “village” community, and the home community which further promotes mathematical engagement.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mathematics Engagement in Middle School: It's a Family Affair"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Corrie Davis","Dr. Amanda Richey"],"dc:creator":["Pappy, Cheryl D."],"dc:date.available":["2018-12-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways African American families, with middle school students, view learning mathematics and engagement within a theme school environment. The participants in this study included nine parents and ten students at an urban Title I theme school. The data collection process included two focus group interviews, nineteen semi-structured individual interviews, journal entries from each participant and 15 documents disseminated to parents from the school and from the district. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) the parents’ understanding/confusion about the “new math” and the effects on parent engagement with mathematics, (b) the strong mathematical identities of the participants, and (c) the broader engagement from three major communities: the theme school community, the “village” community, and the home community which further promotes mathematical engagement.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/12"],"dc:subject":["parent engagement","middle school mathematics","African American families","theme schools","Education"],"dc:title":["Mathematics Engagement in Middle School: It's a Family Affair"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:09Z"}