Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Summer 1994

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S)

Department

Advanced Education Programs

Advisor

Michael Slattery

Abstract

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate the satisfaction of parents attending parent teacher conferences toward parent teacher conferences. The independent variables investigated were ethnicity, level of parent educational attainment, socio-economic status and familiarity to the current educational system. The scores from the three sets of subscales and the total score of the Parental Evaluation Questionnaire were employed as dependent variables. The subscales were: The General Atmosphere of the Conference, Presentation of Students' Academic, Social, and Emotional Progress, and Teachers' Overall Knowledge of the Student. A pilot study to determine validity and reliability was not feasible because the participating school district set the population parameters of all parents in one grade level across the district. The sample consisted of 176 subjects. The four composite null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level employing a three-way analysis of variance (general linear model). The researcher made 56 plus 56 recurring comparisons. Of the 56 comparisons 16 were for main effects and 40 were for interactions. Of the 16 main effects 5 were statistically significant at the .05 level. None of the 40 interactions were statistically significant. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: 1. parents with eight years or less of schooling rated the teachers’ presentation of students' academic, social, and emotional progress more positively than parents with four year bachelor degrees or higher; 2. parents with GED or high school diplomas rated the teachers' presentation of students' academic, social, and emotional progress more positively than parents with four year bachelor degrees or higher; 3. parents identifying themselves as being of a low socio-economic status rated the teachers' overall knowledge of the student as more positive than those parents identifying themselves as being of a high socio-economic status: 4. parents with eight years or less of schooling rated the general atmosphere of the conference more satisfactory than those parents with four year bachelor degrees or higher: 5. parents with GED or high school diploma rated the general atmosphere of the conference more satisfactory than those parents with four year bachelor degrees or higher; 6. the dissatisfactions that exist from parents toward parent-teacher conferences tend to be based on parent level of education rather than nationality; and 7. members of all sub-groups had mean ratings which exceeded the theoretical means: therefore, the results indicated the parents appeared to be very satisfied with all aspects of the parent-teacher conference.

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Rights

© 1994 Jeffery J. Jeffers

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