As we learned more about how research could be ethicial and unethical, we know that there are times that research could be impacting a
child or the participant life while it may be the results could benefit to others. However, there
are also great reserach samples that have positive effects on children and families. For
example, the research “Preschool to kindergarten transition patterns for
African American boys” (Iruka, Gardner-Neblett, Matthews, and Winn, 2014) was a
great longitude study where the researchers start to collect data of selected groups from birth to the
child attends kindergarten. The procedure of this study was not harmful to
children or families. It is a data collection method which the research give a questionnaire to the childcare
providers or teachers about the child’s
socio-emotional development during each visit from birth to kindergarten.
The goal of this research is to
gather informations on the patterns of African American boys transitioning into
kindergarten based on their language, academic, and social skills collected in
preschool and kindergarten. Moreover, they want to examine the extent of family
socio-economic status, parenting and parent’s education level may affect their
children.
Some of the findings in this research are:
- Family income and parent education were related to parenting processes and children’s academic and social skills with the exception of kindergarten social skill.
- Parenting practice (e.g. literacy practices) and interaction (e.g., cognitive stimulation) were positively associated with many child outcomes.
- Over 50% of African American boys in the study were either stable or showed marked improvements during their transition into kindergarten when families and teachers are working together (Iruka, Gardner-Neblett, Matthews, and Winn, 2014).
- Almost 20% of boys were struggling in their academic when the families are not working with the teacher and the teachers are not individualize their teaching style to fit each child’s need.
I am excited to learn about this study as it is related to my work and something that I want to learn more about to support families. My program
serves diverse population, and compare to other ethicity, African American families tend to have less parent
involvement or participation in our program. We did workshops that they said
they were interested in through the result from the parent survey, but their attendance is
still low. It might be becaue most of them are single mother who needs to take care at least 2 or more children , so
it could be challenging for them to involve in their child's learning without other supports. However, with these result, we
can show parents that it is critical to actively involve in their child’s education
and working with teachers together. As a program, we could think about other ways to support these families to increase their willingness or abilities to support their child by maybe provide parenting workshops and childcare supports while they are in the workshops. It make a huge difference to a child’s life
when they receive the mutual supports from home and school.
Referece
Iruka, I., Gardner-Neblett, N., Matthews, J.C., and Winn,D. (2014).
Preschool to kindergarten transition patterns for African American boys. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 29 (2),
106-117. Retried from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200613001075
Hi Yee, thank you for sharing how programs can conduct some research using a questionnaire. Like you said, this study did not place harm on any of the participants involved.
ReplyDeleteI found it is interesting when you talked about the survey that you gave parents regarding parental involvement. Even though the survey that the parents completed indicated interest in parental involvement, the involvement was still low. I am actually doing my simulation research on parental involvement. I have yet to begin the research, but I do believe that parents don't truly know what is expected of them with regards to parental involvement. Parental involvement could mean something different for parents and educators or like you said, in reality many parents to do not have the time. Parents may not realize that there are many different ways to get involved as it doesn't always have to be defined as volunteering in the program. I agree with you that there are many benefits for all when partnerships are built between educators and families, it is just to figure how we can do this effectively so all parents can feel involved and feel a sense of belonging. I agree that a strong bridge between home and school helps to build a stronger foundation for learning.
Thank you for sharing how important it is for us to have partnerships with families.
Take care,
Stephanie
Hello Yee,
ReplyDeleteYou chose a very good example of research done thoroughly and without harm or risk to the participants. I think using surveys can be very helpful during the research process. It is a fast and effective way to obtain a good amount of data without being too disruptive to their daily lives. I am definitely using surveys as one way to obtain data from families. Thank you for sharing this example. Great post!