Home-School Connections in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools

1. Home-School Connections in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools Daniela Torre UCEA Graduate Student Summit November 15, 2012

2. Background • Parental involvement matters • There are obstacles to strong home-school relationships: • Cultural disconnect (Epstein & Dauber, 1991). • Teachers see parents as a nuisance (Dodd and Konal 2000) or as a threat to their authority (Lazar & Slostad, 1999). • Parents are intimidated by school or do not feel they have adequate skills to be involved (Eccles & Harold, 1993). • Conflicting norms between home and schools(Delgado-Gaitan, 1991).

3. Teachers can influence the level of parent involvement in school (Epstein & Dauber, 1991)

4. Charter Schools • Charter schools: • public schools that are granted a specific amount of autonomy, determined by state law or the specific charter, to make decisions concerning the organizational structure, curriculum, and educational emphasis of their school. • Supporters claim that charter schools will increase • Innovation • Accountability to parents • Achievement

5. Research Questions 1. What is the relationship between school type and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies? 2. What is the relationship between teacher characteristics/organizational features and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies in each school type? 3. Does the relationship between teacher characteristics/organizational features and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies differ between traditional public schools and charter schools?

6. Data and Sample • Data collected from What Makes Schools Work (WMSW) survey at Vanderbilt University • Matched sample includes charter schools matched to traditional public schools within 20 miles. • Includes 59 traditional and 59 charter schools; 2315 teachers. • Schools matched using information obtained from the CCD. Matching variables included location, grade range, racial/ethnic composition, socio-economic status, and size.

7. Learning at Home Parenting Communicating Parent Engagement Strategies Collaborating with Community Decision Making Volunteering • Scale created from Likert-type question • Encourage parents to call anytime on personal cell phone • Contact parents regarding academics • Contact parents about participating in school events. • Send homework for parents to complete with their child • Contact parents and successfully schedule face-to-face meetings

8. School Type Organizational features Teacher Characteristics Independent Variables • Dummy variable with 1=Charter School & 0= Traditional Public School • School requires parents to volunteer • School requires parents to sign a contract • School provides transportation • Enrolment (log) • Parent influence • Years of experience • Highest degree earned • Gender • School level: elementary, middle, or high school • Student teacher ratio • Race

9. Results: RQ 1 What is the relationship between school type and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies? • Teachers in charter schools are significantly more likely to use parent involvement strategies. • Adding teacher level controls does not substantially change the coefficient on charter. • Adding organizational level variables substantially reduces the coefficient on charter

10. Results: RQ 2 What is the relationship between teacher characteristics and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies in each school type? Charter Schools Traditional Public Schools

11. Results: RQ 2 What is the relationship between organizational featuresand teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies in each school type? Traditional Public Schools Charter Schools

12. Results: RQ3 Does the relationship between teacher characteristics/organizational features and teacher’s use of parent engagement strategies differ between traditional public schools and charter schools? • Enrollment • Parent influence • Student Teacher Ratio

13. Discussion • Model 1 suggests that much of the differences in charter schools and TPS is due to how these schools are organized, as opposed to the sorts of teachers they employ. • The decreased in contact between parents and teachers may occur later in charter schools and traditional public schools. • Strongest individual predictor of the dependent variable across school type is the level of parent influence. • Requiring parents to sign a contract significantly predicts teacher use of parent engagement strategies in TPS, but not charter schools. • Indicative of stronger vision?

14. Limitations • Dependent variable limited by survey measure • Cross-sectional analysis • Not designed to show any effects on student achievement • Possibility of unobserved variables • Parent motivation, teacher motivation, teacher commitment to parent engagement

15. Future Research • Relationship between experience and parent involvement differs between the charter school and traditional public school setting. • The relationship between parent influence and school organization • Relationship between enrollment and teacher use of parent engagement strategies.

16. Thank You Daniela Torre Vanderbilt University daniela.torre@vanderbilt.edu

17. Parent Influence