Parent-teacher partnership: workshops to support family engagement in student reading comprehension

During the winter semester of 2018, I conducted a series of four workshops to teach parents (n = 6) strategies that could be used from home with their fourth-grade struggling readers. This study was situated in an elementary school located in North Las Vegas, NV. I invited students that scored two or more years below grade level, as indicated by the STAR Reading Assessment (a grade equivalency assessment).

The purpose of this study focused on how family engagement resulting from the implementation of four small group workshops delivered by the teacher (and researcher) could affect reading performance of students who were below grade level.

This mixed-methods action research study was informed by Bourdieu’s Theory of Cultural Capital (1977), Bandura’s Theory of Self-efficacy (1986), and school, family, and community partnership models.

Quantitative data included pre- and post-intervention parent surveys, post-intervention student surveys, and pre- and post-intervention student reading assessments. Qualitative data included field notes and post-intervention parent interviews.

A repeated-measure t-test found the difference between student pre- and post-assessment to be statistically significant, t(9) = -3.38, p = 0.008. Findings also indicated that parents utilized the skills learned, increased their self-efficacy in regards to family involvement, and overcame obstacles.