Can the Epstein Model of Parental Involvement Work in a High-Minority, High-Poverty Elementary School? A Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 2156759X1101500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather A. Bower ◽  
Dana Griffin

The literature has lauded parental involvement as an effective strategy to increase student achievement, but schools still struggle with how to effectively involve parents of color and low-income families. In an effort to assess the effectiveness of the Epstein Model of Parental Involvement in high-poverty, high-minority schools, the authors conducted a case study of an urban elementary school that uses parental involvement practices stipulated in the model. This article provides implications for school counselors and suggestions for future research.

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2156759X1001400
Author(s):  
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy

This article describes an exploratory and descriptive study that examined the parental involvement beliefs, attitudes, and activities of 22 high schoåol counselors who work in high-poverty and high-minority schools. More specifically, this study examined school counselors’ beliefs and activities about involving parents in the college admission process. The results indicated that the participants believe that working with parents about college opportunities is a major part of their job. A majority of the participants also reported that they spend “some time” conferencing with parents about college admissions and a majority reported that they “never” organize parent volunteer activities. Implications for school counselor practice and future research are discussed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 232949652097854
Author(s):  
Jennifer March Augustine ◽  
Lilla Pivnick ◽  
Julie Skalamera Olson ◽  
Robert Crosnoe

The economic segregation of U.S. schools undermines the academic performance of students, particularly students from low-income families who are often concentrated in high-poverty schools. Yet it also fuels the reproduction of inequality by harming their physical health. Integrating research on school effects with social psychological and ecological theories on how local contexts shape life course outcomes, we examined a conceptual model linking school poverty and adolescent students’ weight. Applying multilevel modeling techniques to the first wave of data (1994–1995) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 18,924), the results revealed that individual students’ likelihood of being overweight increased as the concentration of students from low-income families in their schools increased, net of their own background characteristics. This linkage was connected to a key contextual factor: the exposure of students in high-poverty schools to other overweight students. This exposure may partly matter because of the lower prevalence of dieting norms in such schools, although future research should continue to examine potential mechanisms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Samantha B Meyer

Research attributes low fruit and vegetable consumption to problems of access, availability and affordability. We conducted, for the first time, a case study with three families designed and analysed using the sustainable Livelihoods Framework. The benefit of such an approach is that we moved away from identified barriers and towards identifying the capabilities and resources low-income families use to incorporate fruit and vegetables into their diets. Mitigating cost and access, we provided families with a box of fresh fruit and vegetables free of charge for up to 10 weeks and observed and recorded how/if the contents were used. Results identify the importance of social networking, organizational skills, knowledge of health benefits, and social structures. This paper demonstrates an effective methodology for understanding the capabilities of, rather than barriers to, low-income families increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Additionally, we provide a ‘how to’ and ‘lessons from the field’ for researchers interested in conducting research of this nature.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans W. Klar ◽  
Curtis A. Brewer

Purpose – In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices and beliefs were adapted to increase student achievement in this rural, high-poverty school in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach – After purposefully selecting this school, the authors adapted interview protocols, questionnaires, and analysis frameworks from the International Successful School Principalship Project to develop a multi-perspective case study of principal leadership practices at the school. Findings – The findings illustrate the practices which led to students at this school, previously the lowest-performing in the district, achieving significantly higher on state standardized tests, getting along “like a family,” and regularly participating in service learning activities and charity events. A particularly interesting finding was how the principal confronted the school's negative self-image and adapted common leadership practices to implement a school-wide reform that suited its unique context. Research limitations/implications – While the findings of the study explicate the specific ways the principal adapted leadership strategies to enhance student learning, this study also highlights the need to understand how principals become familiar with their community's needs, cultures, norms, and values, and exercise leadership in accordance with them. Practical implications – The case offers an example of the need for context-responsive leadership in schools. In particular, it illustrates how this principal enacted leadership strategies that successfully negotiated what Woods (2006) referred to as the changing politics of the rural. To realize this success, the principal utilized his understanding of this low income, rural community to guide his leadership practices. Critically, part of this understanding included the ways the community was connected to and isolated from dominant sub-urban and urban societies, and how to build enthusiasm and capacity through appeals to local values. Originality/value – While it is widely acknowledged that school leaders need to consider their school and community contexts when making leadership decisions, less research has focussed on understanding how this can be achieved. This case provides rich examples of how this was accomplished in a rural, high-poverty middle school.


1973 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Eapen ◽  
Ana N. Eapen

Regardless of the alternative assumptions used to allocate taxes and benefits from expenditures of Connecticut state and local governments in 1967, this study shows that the incidence of taxes is regressive while that of expenditures is progressive. The regressivity of the tax structure is overwhelmingly due to the regressivity of the property tax. Progressivity of expenditures stems chiefly from transfer payments, housing, and hospitals which benefit primarily low-income families. On the basis of reasonable assumptions, it is shown that the state and local fiscs bring about, on the average a net redistribution of a mere two percent of income from families with annual incomes of $12,000 and above to those below that level.


Author(s):  
Omid Rismanchian 1 ◽  
Simon Bell 1 ◽  
Safoora Mokhtarzadeh

Throughout the urban development process over the last seven decades in Tehran, Iran many self-generated neighbourhoods have developed, in which the majority of the residents are low-income families. The main spatial attribute of these deprived neighbourhoods in space syntax terms is spatial isolation from the surrounding, more affluent areas, which is accompanied by inadequate urban infrastructure and a lack of accessibility and permeability. This paper discusses a method of developing a route filtering system for identifying the most suitable streets for the creation of a pedestrian-friendly network, using an example of a deprived area, in order to integrate it with the surrounding urban fabric. The theory of ‘Natural Movement’ formed the basis of the research, the spatial pattern being analysed through Space Syntax using Depthmap software and GIS. The results showed that it is possible to identify the underlying spatial pattern using this approach and this could form a very cost effective basis for developing a pedestrian friendly street network, in order to release the deprived area from its spatial isolation. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaina Riciputi ◽  
Meghan H. McDonough ◽  
Sarah Ullrich-French

Physical activity–based positive youth development (PYD) programs often aim to foster character development. This study examined youth perspectives of character development curricula and the impact these activities have on their lives within and beyond the program. This case study examined youth from low-income families in a physical activity–based summer PYD program that integrated one character concept (respect, caring, responsibility, trust) in each of 4 weeks. Participants (N = 24) included a cross section of age, gender, ethnicity, and past program experience. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and constant comparative methods. Thirteen themes were grouped in four categories: building highquality reciprocal relationships; intrapersonal improvement; moral reasoning and understanding; and rejection, resistance, and compliance. The findings provide participant-centered guidance for understanding youth personal and social development through physical activity in ways that are meaningful to participants, which is particularly needed for youth in low-income communities with limited youth programming.


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