Date Approved

3-23-2015

Embargo Period

12-21-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. Reading Education

Department

Language, Literacy, and Special Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Browne, Susan

Subject(s)

Language arts (Elementary); Education; Elementary--Parent participation

Disciplines

Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how a partnership might be forged between parents and teachers to develop the literacy skills of upper elementary school students in grades 3-5. The family literacy event used in this study consisted of two sessions held at the students' school. The first session was a parent-only learning experience, and both parents and students were invited to participate in the program's second session. The content of the family literacy event used in this study focused on encouraging critical, high-quality literature conversations at home to benefit students' literacy development. Teacher researchers collected data using parent surveys, attendance records, anecdotal observations, and teacher research journals. Careful analysis of this data suggests parents want be involved in their children's development and value support from teachers to help them strengthen that role. Parents understood and could independently compose inferential questions, and they shared an intention to implement the strategies presented at the event in their literacy conversations at home. Benefits from both parent-only and parent-student structures were observed, suggesting both structures can be used to support literacy development. Implications for hosting family literacy events and opportunities for further research in family literacy are discussed.

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