Investigating Relationships among Teacher, Parent and Student Perceptions of School, Family and Community Music Involvement, and Student Academic and Social Outcomes
Dear 8th or 11th grade familes and teachers,
You are invited to participate in a research project investigating the connections between family, school and community and the associated music connections. The title of the project is Investigating Relationships among Teacher, Parent and Student Perceptions of School, Family and Community Music Connections. This research is sponsored by the University of Northern Iowa and the purpose is to examine perceived connections of family, school and community and their relationships to school activities and academic achievement.
The answers you provide will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law. Special precautions have been established to protect the confidentiality of your responses. There are no foreseeable risks to you or your child as a participant in this project; nor are there any direct benefits. However, your participation is extremely valued.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact me at (319) 273-3073 or by e-mail at droe@uni.edu. If I am not available when you call, please leave a message and I will call back. If you have questions about your rights as a participant in this research project, please contact the UNI Institutional Review Board (IRB) Human Protections Administrator at 319-273-6148 or by e-mail at osp@uni.edu.
Thank you for your help. I appreciate your cooperation.
Sincerely,Kevin L. Droe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Music Education
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Student (8th or 11th grade) Parent or Guardian Music Teacher
Nature of the Project
Epstein’s Model of School, Family and Community Partnerships (Epstein, 2011, p. 32) suggests that students reach their highest potential for development and learning when connections between the student’s school, family and community are maximized. The model, represented by three overlapping circles (Figure 1), suggests that student’s motivation to learn and learning environment is strengthened when the (1) the school (i.e., teacher, principal, counselor) is in positive communication with the school and community, (2) the family has positive communication with the school and community and (3) the community is in positive communication with the school and family. The idea of school, family and community partnerships is a recent movement in American education that has relatively little research assigned to it.
Recent research (Epstein, 2011, p. 46) has identified six ways that schools can be involved in increasing and strengthening family and community partnerships (Table 1).
Purpose and Research Questions
The purpose of this research project is to examine relationships among teacher, parent and student perceptions of school, family and community music involvement and student academic and social outcomes. Epstein’s Six Types of Involvement (2011), based on her School, Family and Community partnership model will be used a theoretical framework to base dependent measures.
Using Epstein’s Six Types of Involvement as a theoretical framework, the following research questions will be asked:
What is the nature and strength of music connections between music students and their: (A) community (e.g., church, neighborhood, city), (B) family and (C) school?
What is the nature and strength of music connections between a family and: (A) the school their child attends and (B) their community?
What is the nature and strength of music connections between a school and: (A) families and (B) surrounding community?
What relationships exist between school, family and community connections and student academic and social outcomes?
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Student (8th or 11th grade) Parent or Guardian Music Teacher
