ISSN (Online): 2321-3418
server-injected
Elementary Education
Open Access

Effectiveness of Parents’ Workshop on Home-School Partnership and Students’ Mathematics Performance. The Case of a Public Secondary school in Botswana

DOI: 10.18535/ijsrm/v10i6.ee01· Pages: 04-21· Vol. 10, No. 06, (2022)· Published: June 5, 2022
PDF
Views: 465 PDF downloads: 194

Abstract

It is undisputable that an effective home-school partnership has an impact on their children’s learning and subsequent academic performance. However, the extent of parental involvement is found to be lacking due to various reasons according to the literature. This paper reports on the effectiveness of utilizing workshops as an intervention strategy to facilitate a home-school partnership that could enhance student mathematics performance in a public senior secondary school in Botswana. Parents from one, purposively selected public senior secondary school, participated in this study. The study used a pragmatist paradigm to draw on a mixed-methods approach and employ a quasi-experimental research design with experimental and control groups. Questionnaires for parents and their children, parents’ interviews, and tests in mathematics were the main data collection instruments for this study and were used as pre and post-interventions. The parents’ workshops intervention was implemented for a period of three weeks on the experimental group. Parents were provided with knowledge and skills through presentations on parental involvement. The results demonstrated that the parents’ workshops intervention improved home-school partnership. The results showed that the intervention had a large positive impact on   Home-school communication with an effect size difference of 2.260 between pre-test and post-test mean scores for the parents in the experimental group. Consequently, children’s mathematics performance positively changed after the intervention. The difference between pre-test and post-test within the control group showed a small effect size (0.308) while a large and practical effect size (2.215) was found between pre-test and post-test within the experimental students.

Keywords

BotswanaCommunicationhome-school partnershipsmathematics performancesecondary

References

  1. Adams, K. S., & Christenson, S. L. (2000). Trust and the family–school relationship examination of parent–teacher differences in elementary and secondary grades. Journal of School Psychology, 38(5), 477–497. doi:10.1016/S0022-4405(00)00048-0DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  2. Aljomaa, S. S., Al.qudah, M. F., Albursan, I. S., Bakhiet, S. F., & Abduljabbar, A. S. (2016). Smartphone addiction among university students in the light of some variables. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 155–164.Google Scholar ↗
  3. Azad, G., & Mandell, D. S. (2016). Concerns of parents and teachers of children with autism in elementary school. Autism, 20(4), 435–441. [PubMed: 26069200]Google Scholar ↗
  4. Bæck, U. D. K. (2010). Parental involvement practices in formalized home-school cooperation. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 54(6), 549–563.Google Scholar ↗
  5. Barbour, C., Barbour, N. H., & Scully, P. A. (2011). Families, schools, and communities. Boston: Pearson.Google Scholar ↗
  6. Berger, E.P. & Riojas-Cortez, M. (2012). Parents as partners in education: Families and schools working together. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.Google Scholar ↗
  7. Bergman, P. (2012). Parent-child information frictions and human capital investment: Evidence from a field experiment. http://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/bergman/PBergman_10.4.12.pdf.Google Scholar ↗
  8. Bull, A., Brooking, K., & Campbell, R. (2008). Successful home-school partnerships. Wellington: Ministry of EducationGoogle Scholar ↗
  9. Caspe, M. S. (2003). How Teachers come to understand Families. The School Community Journal,13(1), 115-131.Google Scholar ↗
  10. Christenson, S. L., & Reschly, A. L. (Eds). (2009). Handbook of school-family partnerships. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar ↗
  11. Christenson, S. L., & Sheridan, S. M. (2001). Schools and families: Creating essential connections for learning. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar ↗
  12. Christenson, S. (2004). The family-school partnership: An opportunity to promote the learning competence of all students. School Psychology Review, 33, 83-104.Google Scholar ↗
  13. Davies, D. (1996). Partnerships for student success. New Schools, New Communities, 12(3), 13–21.Google Scholar ↗
  14. Duckworth, K, Akerman, R, Morrison Gutman, L & Vorhaus, J. (2009), Influences and leverages on low levels of attainment: a review of literature and policy initiatives. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.learningbenefits.net/Publications/ResRepIntros/ResRep31intro.htm,Google Scholar ↗
  15. Emerson, L., Fear, J., Fox, S., & Sanders, E. (2012) ‘Parental engagement in learning and schooling: Lessons from research’. A report by the Australian Research Alliance (ARACY) for Children & Youth for the Family-School & Community Partnerships Bureau. Canberra.Google Scholar ↗
  16. Epstein, J. L. (2013). Family, school, community engagement, and partnerships: An imperative for K-12, and Colleges of Education in the development of twenty-first-century educators. Teaching Education, 24(2):115-118.Google Scholar ↗
  17. Epstein, J. L. (1995). School-family-community partnerships: Caring for the children we share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76:701-712.Google Scholar ↗
  18. Epstein, J. L., & Sanders, M. G. (2002). Family, school, and community partnerships. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (pp. 407-437) (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar ↗
  19. Epstein, J.L. (1987). Parent involvement: state education agencies should lead the way. Community Education Journal, 14(4):4-10.Google Scholar ↗
  20. Epstein, J. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar ↗
  21. Epstein, J. (2005). Developing and sustaining comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships: Summary of five years of NNPS research. In Plenary Round Table. Oviedo, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.ernape.net/ conferences_oviedo2005_12.htmlGoogle Scholar ↗
  22. Epstein, J.L. (2009). In School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar ↗
  23. Galindo, C. L., & Sheldon, S. B. (2012). Examining the effects of school and home connections on children’s kindergarten cognitive growth. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27, 90–103.Google Scholar ↗
  24. Grant, L. (2011). ‘I’m a completely different person at home’: Using digital technologies to connect learning between home and school. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(4), 292–302. doi:10.1111/ jca.2011.27.issue-4Google Scholar ↗
  25. Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2007). Beginning essentials in early childhood education. Belmont, CA: Cengage.Google Scholar ↗
  26. Hannula, M.S. (2002). Attitude towards mathematics: emotions, expectations, and values. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 49, 25-46.Google Scholar ↗
  27. Henderson, A., & Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. Columbia, MD: National Committee for Citizens in Education.Google Scholar ↗
  28. Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connectons on student achievement. Austn, TX: Natonal Center for Family and Community Connectons with Schools.Google Scholar ↗
  29. Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 740-763. doi: 10.1037/a0015362DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  30. Hill, N. E. & Chao, R. K. (2009). Families, schools, and the adolescent: Connecting research, policy, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar ↗
  31. Hoover-Dempsey, K Battiato A., Walker, J., Reed, R., DeJong, J, & Jones K. (2005). Parental involvement in homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3):195- 209.Google Scholar ↗
  32. Hornby, G. & Lafaele, R. (2011). Barriers to Parental Involvement In Education: An Explanatory Model. Educational Review, 63(1), 37-52.Google Scholar ↗
  33. Johnston, S. (1994). Choosing mathematics. ‘You need it even if you don’t want to do it’. Australian Journal of Education, 38(3), 233-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/000494419403800304DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  34. Kgaffe, M. M. (2001). Barriers to parent involvement in rural communities in North West province (Master of Education Unpublished thesis). University of South Africa, Pretoria.Google Scholar ↗
  35. Koonce, D. & Harper, W. (2005). Engaging African American parents in the schools: a community-based consultation model. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 16(1/2), 55-74.Google Scholar ↗
  36. Lindle, J. (1989). What do parents want from principals and teachers? Educational Leadership, 47(2), 12-14.Google Scholar ↗
  37. Mannathoko, M. C., and Mangope, B. (2013). Barriers to parental involvement in primary schools: A case of Central North Region of Botswana. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 6(1):47-55.Google Scholar ↗
  38. Mante1, F. A., Awereh, E. O., & Opare, A. (2015). Effects of parental involvement on academic performance of pupils: A Case Study at Adukrom Methodist Primary School. Basic Research Journal of Education Research and Review, Vol. 4 No. 1, 01-07Google Scholar ↗
  39. McConnell, B. M., & Kubina, R. M. (2014). Connecting with families to improve students’ school attendance: A review of the literature. Preventing School Failure, 58(4), 249-256.Google Scholar ↗
  40. Miller, H., & Bichsel, J. (2004). Anxiety, working memory, gender and math performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(3), 591-606. doi:10.1016/j.paid.200309.029DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  41. Mujtaba, T., Reiss, M. J. & Hodgson, A. (2014). Motivating and supporting young people to study mathematics: A London perspective. London Review of Education, 12(1), 121-142. https://doi.org/10.18546/LRE.12.1.11DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  42. Norris, E. (2012) Solving the maths problem: international perspectives on mathematics education. Available at: https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa_maths_report_10_2_12.pdfGoogle Scholar ↗
  43. Obeidat, O. M. and Al-Hassan, S. M. (2009). School-parent-community partnerships: The experience of teachers who received the queen Rania award for excellence in education in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The School Community Journal, 19(1), 119-136.Google Scholar ↗
  44. Olmstead, C. (2013) “Using technology to increase parent involvement in schools”, TechTrends, vol. 57, no. 6.Google Scholar ↗
  45. Palts, K. & Harro-Loit, H. (2015). Parent-teacher communication patterns concerning activity and positive-negative attitudes. TRAMES, 19(2):139– 154.Google Scholar ↗
  46. Palts, K. & Kalmus, V. (2015). Digital channels in teacher-parent communication: The case of estonia. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 11(3), 65-81. Retrieved from http://pearl.stkate.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.pearl.stkate.edu/docvi ew/1765855039?accountid=26879Google Scholar ↗
  47. Pansiri, L., & Pansiri, O. N. (2011). Causes of poor parental involvement: case study of a primary school in Gaborone West - Botswana. Pula Journal of Educational Studies, 25(4), 471-494.Google Scholar ↗
  48. Pianta, R. (2000). Enhancing the transition to kindergarten, Charlottesville: University of Virginia, National Center for Early Development and Learning.Google Scholar ↗
  49. Republic of Botswana. (1994). The Revised National Policy on Education. Gaborone: Government Printers.Google Scholar ↗
  50. Republic of Botswana. (1977). Education for Kagisano: Report of the National Commission on Education. Gaborone: Government Printers.Google Scholar ↗
  51. Richardson, S. A. (2009). Principal’s perceptions of parental involvement in the “big 8” urban districts of Ohio. Research in the Schools, 16(1), 1-12.Google Scholar ↗
  52. Sanders, M. G. (2006). Building school-community partnerships: Collaboration for student success.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin PressGoogle Scholar ↗
  53. Sheldon, S. B. (2019). Improving student outcomes with school, family, and community partnerships: A research review. In J. L., Epstein et al. School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action, fourth edition (pp. 43-62). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.Google Scholar ↗
  54. Sheldon, S. B., Epstein, J. L., & Galindo, C. L. (2010). Not just numbers: Creating a part¬nership climate to improve math proficiency in schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 9, 27–48. doi:10.1080/15700760802702548DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗
  55. Sirvani, H. (2007). The effect of teacher communication with parents on student’s mathematics achievement. American Secondary Education, 36(1), 31-57.Google Scholar ↗
  56. Smith, A. (2004). Making Mathematics Count: The Report of Inquiry into Post-Mathematics Education in the United Kingdom. London: Department of Education.Google Scholar ↗
  57. Statistics Botswana (2014). Vision 2016 and Millenium Development Goals Indicators Report.Google Scholar ↗
  58. Stroetinga, M., Leeman, Y., & Veugelers, W. (2019). Primary school teachers’ collaboration with parents on upbringing: A review of the empirical literature. Educational Review, 71(5), 650-667.Google Scholar ↗
  59. Stuart, E. A., & Rubin. D. B. (2007). Best practices in quasi-experimental designs: Matching methods for causal inference. In J. Osborne (Ed.), Best practices in quantitative social science. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage PublicationsGoogle Scholar ↗
  60. Teo, T. (2011). Factors influencing teachers’ intention to use technology: Model development and test. Computers & Education, 57, 2432–2440Google Scholar ↗
  61. Thompson, B. (2008). Applying Social Information Processing Theory to Parent-Teacher Relationships, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.Google Scholar ↗
  62. Thompson, K. M., Gillis, T. J., Fairman, J., & Mason, C. A. (2014). Effective strategies for engaging parents in students’ learning to support achievement. Orono, ME: Maine Education Policy Research Institute, University of MaineGoogle Scholar ↗
  63. Tuinstra C & Hiatt-Michael D. (2004). Student-led parent conferences in middle schools. School Community Journal, 14:59-81Google Scholar ↗
  64. Weissberg, M. & Dusenbury, I. (2011). School family partnership Strategies to enhance children Social, Emotional and Academic Growth, Newton, National center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, Education Development Center, Inc.Google Scholar ↗
Author details
Fine Thabologo
Department of Mathematics and Science Education Faculty of Education University of Botswana
✉ Corresponding Author
ORCID ↗
👤 View Profile →