Mobility Strategies and Academic Success within Military Families

The purpose of this narratalogical case study was to investigate the strategies military families utilize to contribute to the academic performance of highly mobile military connected students. The unit of analysis was the strategies parents describe. These strategies included what is available for active duty military parents of 6th grade students that have moved three or more times. The problem addressed with this limited group of mobile military families was whether the previous duty station moves impacted the dependent child’s academic performance. The limited research on the academic performance as related to military student mobility is in dire need of being addressed. In an attempt to discover if there were successful strategies having a positive impact on academic performance as related to these transient military families the questions I answered are: (1) How do military parents describe their experiences related to family mobility? (2) What strategies do highly mobile military parents identify that assist with student academics in a variety of educational settings? (3) What support mechanisms for education do military parents receive to assist with mobility? and (4) What concerns would mobile military families like to see addressed for additional support in transition? Through the process of “themeing the data”, four themes central to the study of mobile military families were apprehended: (1) Strategies (2) Identity (3) School/School Choice and (4) Moving/Mobility. The findings discovered from gathering the data centered around the successful strategies of use of technology for research, communication, parental involvement, and maintaining a positive attitude. Future research should expand on this study by gathering data from more military installations and including those families with a parent or parents that hold one of the enlisted ranks.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Mispagel, Keith Allen

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Caruthers, Loyce Ellenor, 1947-

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/49239

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/49239