The Effects of Family Enjoyment from Family Involvement
Jocelyn Epperson
9/29/2022
Longwood University
Abstract
This study looked at how family involvement impacted family enjoyment. One Hundred surveys were sent out to two schools, Head Start and The Andy Taylor center. From the hundred surveys, we received sixteen surveys back which is only 16.1%. This study was a mixed methods study with the participants all coming from different backgrounds, ethnicity, race, and income status. The quantitative section used close-ended questions with a scale from one to ten, with one being the lowest and ten being the highest. For our qualitative section, we used open-ended questions. This allowed participants to write out specific answers to the questions. Each survey included family fun time activities that were to be completed. The surveys used questions regarding skills learned, how much involvement was used, and the amount of enjoyment. This study was performed in order to see how family involvement impacted enjoyment while completing the activities. Themes found with this study include rates of enjoyment improving when more family involvement was common. However, the implications of this study included the number of surveys received back. Since there was a low percentage of surveys received back, this gave us a poor representation for our study.
Introduction
This study focused on family involvement and the affects it has on a child’s academic success as well as success throughout their development. The findings showed that family enjoyment was highly impacted by family involvement in the family fun time activities. Sixteen participants returned to the family fun time activities, which was 16.1%, This is a low return rate given that one-hundred surveys were sent out to the two schools. However, knowledge was gained from these twenty participants and what the participant gained from these activities. The children were given five different activities to complete, and each activity focused on different skills. Participants in this study ranged in background and age. This allowed differences in results gained from these activities and helped gain insight into how children are affected differently by their backgrounds. Typically students that come from lower-income households not only have a lower educational level but also have less parental involvement (Haley-Locke, & Posey- Maddox. 2016). The study aimed at discovering which skills were learned and/or gained by the child from each activity and how family involvement impacted this. In each survey returned, family involvement always improved the rate of enjoyment. After completion of these activities, the participants then had to fill out a survey related to knowledge known before completing the activities and knowledge gained after completing it. We then used this data in our study to understand the affects involvement of families. Each survey gave different results and in-depth feedback on what worked well and areas that needed improvement. This paper will analyze how family involvement contributes to family enjoyment.
Literature Review
In Epstein’s study, which was in 1995, her major finding on children’s educational success was based on parenteral involvement. More involvement from the parents increased the chances of students’ academics and characters developing in a positive manner. However, administrators do not always know how to gain parental involvement. (Epstein. 1995). Knowing which programs most appeal to parents can increase the chances of not only being more involved in their child’s school but also being involved in a home setting. Parental involvement alone does not guarantee academic success in a child, community involvement also helps pave the way to success. Epstein found that the more involved a child has, the greater their chance of success in the present (Epstein. 1995). This means when the child has more family involvement that their success will improve. Our study gives statistics on the increase in enjoyment because of involvement. The graph shown in Epstein’s article listed six steps for teachers, students, and parents to result in academic success. Each type is important and key not only for the student but for the teacher as well (Kappan, 1995). If a student is already prepared and taught basic skills, the teacher is able to continue the curriculum and stay on track with learning plans. It is also beneficial to other students by staying on task and continuing the learning curriculum.
Social economic status can impact a student’s success negatively. Economic factors can contribute to parental involvement. With limited funds, it may affect how many supplies can be purchased for class (Gross, et al. 2020). Not all schools, especially in lower-income cities, provide supplies for students. Not only are they unable to provide supplies, but parents are not as likely to volunteer in school organizations (Haley-Locke, & Posey- Maddox. 2016). The lack of a parent’s ability to volunteer relates to the involvement that parent gives toward their child. Parent involvement at their child’s school also counts as involvement in their life. When little involvement is given, the child receives negative impacts which affect their daily life. A study focused mostly on what teachers and administrators believed parental engagement involved. In lower-income districts, a majority of students came to class with little supplies and lacked education skills (Gross, D. et al., 2020). Teachers have to spend more time improving students who have a lower educational level when this could be time spent developing new skills in other students. The beliefs of the parents also play a key role in their student’s academic success. Some mothers believe they are the sole caregiver and do not believe the teacher should play as much of a role as they should (Gross, D. et al., 2020). This can result in not only a downfall academically, but also in other skills outside of school.
In the classroom, the primary link to student success is the teacher. While there are many students and, usually, only one teacher it is important the teacher provide equal opportunities for students. Teachers must provide a safe place and establish a connection (Ball, & Skrzypek. 2019). Especially if the child is lacking involvement at home, teachers are the next stable connection to a child. If there is little involvement in their home life and from their teacher, this ultimately impacts the child negatively, resulting in low rates of success. The school system is required to provide supplies for students as well, although, some school districts have a much lower income and struggle at providing necessities like computers. However, school districts that are capable of providing these supplies have a higher education level and student success outcome (Ball, & Skrzypek. 2019). This means higher success rates throughout the lifespan of children. School systems can also provide parents and students surveys to see where areas of improvement are needed (Ball, 2019). These surveys can play a vital role in not only providing teachers and faculty information on how to improve and develop new skills leading to success.
All of the studies agree with the hypothesis that more parent involvement leads to more success in the classroom. Our study helped us understand how impactful family involvement is in their student’s life. Out of all the activities, enjoyment increased as family involvement was more prevalent. Although there are outside factors that can diminish the chances of success, the more time parents contribute towards helping their students and school, the rates of success strengthen. Studies that are done to gain insight on how to help raise success rates among students give insight to teachers on how to improve in and out of the classroom. Our study is beneficial in ways academic success can be gained as family involvement increases.
Data and Methods
Instrument
A survey questionnaire was created by 50 members of the social research and program evaluation team at Longwood University. The survey asked both open and close-ended questions. Items on the survey were designed to evaluate SMART objectives of the five activities completed the previous week by Head Start and Andy Taylor Center families. Items that also addressed demographic information, enjoyment of activities, family involvement, and completion of activities were included. Hard copies of the questionnaire were delivered to Head Start and the Andy Taylor Center.
Sample
The non-probability sample for this study was based on 100 children (ages three to five). Seventy-nine children attend Head Start in three counties. Head Start is a federally subsidized preschool for families with economic needs. Twenty-one children attend the Andy Taylor Center which is located on a college campus, and families apply and pay for their children to attend. Attached to the questionnaire was a children’s book to incentivize families to return the survey. Guardians of the children were asked to complete the survey and return it to the preschool the next day. Teachers sent a reminder home with children to return any outstanding questionnaires. This resulted in 16 questionnaires being returned. Overall there was a 16.1% response rate.
Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative analysis of the returned surveys was based on close-ended questions. For this study, the dependent variable is family involvement. The item from the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was how much family involvement is required for family fun time activities. The answers for the choices for this item were on a scale from zero to ten, zero being none at all and ten being the highest amount of family involvement. For this study, the independent variable is family enjoyment. The item from the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was if the family completed the questionnaire. The answer for the choices for this item was yes, no, or unsure. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze these variables.
Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis of the returned surveys was based on open-ended questions. The open-ended questions on the survey were “What did your family enjoy most about these activities? Why?”, “What did your child learn from these activities?”, “What recommendations would you suggest to make these activities better?” To answer the research question, I am asking “How much family involvement is required for family fun time activities”, inductive open coding was used to determine recurring themes in the respondent’s responses.
Findings
Quantitative
The dependent variable for this study is family involvement, the coding for this is zero to ten. Based on 16 responses, the mean for this response is 8. The mean of 8 found is high, but this is because there was a lack of responses received back which meant there were not many significant differences. The standard deviation for this sample is 2.35. The independent variable for this study is family enjoyment, the coding for this is also zero to ten. The mean for this response is 8.14. The mean found is high again because the lack of responses gave no significant differences. The standard deviation for this sample is 2.57. The correlation between the two variables is 0.68, which means as the parent involvement of the families goes up, the amount of enjoyment while completing the activities increases.
Qualitative
For this study, participants were given different activities to complete with families and then asked to take surveys based on their responses. The family fun time activity my group had was the emotional handbook. The children were tasked with acknowledging different emotions in the book and listing if the emotions were understood or not. In this study, participant 4 wrote that this activity “helped with moods”. This reveals that at least one child was able to gain knowledge from this activity. Participant 14 revealed, “… helps the child understand emotions without sound and it helps them know the meaning of emotions.” Participant 11 said, “He learned shapes, colors, and some emotions”. These three quotes revealed that not only was the family fun time activity successful in reaching enjoyment, but the children were able to communicate and work on learning about emotions and moods.
For this activity, one main theme found was family enjoyment. The goal was to gain enjoyment while families completed these activities together. One participant wrote in an open-ended question, “Enjoyed watching [child name] complete these activities while I assist her”. This participant gave a great example of the theme of family enjoyment. This quote also helped describe another theme, family involvement. These activities were meant to create a fun way for families to not only enjoy, but complete these activities together. Another participant described how family involvement helped boost family enjoyment. “Seeing her helping me with the activities and having a good time.” This participant also described experiencing family involvement and family enjoyment. These activities were successful at creating positive factors within families and creating fun things to do together.
Conclusion
This study gave real statistics on just how family involvement improves success with enjoyment. With each activity, enjoyment increased when involvement was more prevalent. The survey questions had specific answers that gave us information on how much family involvement was used with each activity. Open-ended questions were used for our quantitative section while close-ended questions were used for qualitative in this study to find out participants’ feedback. Each survey has distinct feedback given on what worked well and areas that needed improvement with the family fun time activities. The feedback given after the completion of the activities discussed positive outcomes for the participant and areas and skills that improved. The activities also ranged in which skills were used and the level of difficulty. The more difficult the activity was for the child meant more involvement was needed to complete. However, the activities that did receive more family involvement scored higher on the scale for family enjoyment. In conclusion, the study gave us beneficial information on family involvement and how it impacts family enjoyment.
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Epstein, Joyce L. “School and Family Partnerships.” In Encyclopedia of Educational Research, 6th ed., ed. Marvin Alkin: 1139-1151. New York: Macmillan, 1992
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Gross, D., Bettencourt, A. F., Taylor, K., Francis, L., Bower, K., & Singleton, D. L. (2020). What is Parent Engagement in Early Learning? Depends Who You Ask. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 29(3), 747–760. https://doi-org.proxy.longwood.edu/10.1007/s10826-019-01680-6
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