Date of Award
Summer 7-5-2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Jillian Skelton, Ed.D.
Second Advisor
Donna Graham, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Nicholas Markette, Ed.D.
Abstract
The purpose of this research study was to understand how elementary school teachers of military-connected students perceive parental involvement when at least one of the parents is deployed. Currently, minimal literature exists on this phenomenon. The Department of Defense (2014) explained that there are over 3.4 million people serving as military personnel, and of the 1.2 million military-connected children, 80% attend public schools in the United States (American Association of School Administrators, 2016). Thus, a need for research on this population of students exists. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological systems theory and Epstein’s (2011) ideas on parental involvement, a qualitative single case study was chosen as the methodology for this research in which semi-structured interviews were conducted. Through topic coding and analytic coding, it was discovered that although perceptions vary from teacher to teacher, six common themes were found in their responses. The six themes are the role of the teacher, the role of the school, the role of the family, the role of the military/military community, factors in the effects of deployment, and communication. These themes were found to be connected with both of the research questions and theoretical frameworks within this study. The implications of this research can be expanded to assist even non-military students whose parent(s) is absent from his/her life.