Download or read book Parental Involvement in Two Elementary Schools: A Qualitative Case Study written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parent involvement is essential if students are to succeed in school. In fact, âparental involvement is more important to student success, at every grade level, than family income or educationâ (Starr, 2004). Yet many schools struggle to effectively engage parents in the education of their children as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 now requires. The purpose of this study was to explore parentsâ, administratorsâ, and guidance counselorsâ perceptions of parent involvement at a Title I elementary school and a non- Title I elementary school, both of which are located in the southern Appalachian region of the United States, to identify successful parental involvement practices, and to determine the perceived impact of parent involvement on student achievement and school improvement. Specifically, this study explored the strategies employed within the 2 elementary schools to encourage parent involvement, identified effective practices of highly involved parents at the 2 schools, and determined barriers to parental involvement at the 2 elementary schools. The findings of this study suggested that parents in both elementary schools have very similar perceptions of parent involvement. Parents from each school reported that they feel welcome in their childrenâs school, communicate regularly with school personnel, engage in parent-child learning activities, and serve on decision making bodies within the school. Surprisingly, parents in both schools expressed a desire for more parent involvement and perceived some parents as not having an equal opportunity to participate in school functions. School personnel identified barriers to parent involvement and described the manner in which they were working to overcome challenges in their respective schools. While principals articulated the desire for greater parent involvement, they perceived their schools as providing opportunities for all parents to be actively engaged in the educational process. Recommendations from t.