Improving relationships between school, parents, and children

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The main purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the frequency and quality of communication on parents reported reading habits with their children in the home setting.

Findings and Conclusions: Chi-square was utilized for analysis due to the non-normality of three of the dependent variables. A chi square test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the frequency and quality of communication on the dependent variables percent of days parents reported reading with their children, percent of returned reading logs, and general parental involvement. No significant differences were found due to the quality of information. There was a significant relationship between the two variables frequency and general parental involvement, x^2 = 7.029 (4), p < .047.

Findings from this study indicate that the quality of communication did not affect the rate parents reported reading at home with their child, number of reading logs returned, general parental involvement, or their child's reading fluency. Additionally, increased levels of frequency of communication from the school in regard to reading did not significantly affect the amount of reading that parents reported doing with their child. Furthermore, the frequency of communication did not significantly affect the percent of reading logs that were returned or students' reading fluency scores. Parents who received increased rates of communication from the classroom teacher participated or volunteered more in the classroom. This indicates that increased communication may lead to increased general forms of parental involvement in the classroom setting.