Evaluation and Reflection

The graph to the left reflects one of the most important sections of the survey sent home to parents, "Reading with my Child." The maroon represents the pre-survey and the purple is the post-survey. The following are the statements in the order in which they appear on the graph:

• • I read with my child regularly

  • I feel as though I am capable of helping my child read

  • When my child has trouble with a word, I tell them the word

  • I encourage my child to "tap" or "sound" out unknown words

  • I am knowledgeable of other reading strategies for unknown words

  • I encourage my child to use the pictures for understanding

  • I know when my child has understood what they have read

  • I feel as though I know more about what my child is learning at school

The last statement was added in the post survey to see how effective the activities were. It is important to note that there were increases in some very important areas such as, "I read with my child regularly," "I feel as though I am capable of helping my child read," and, "I am knowledgeable of other reading strategies for unknown words." These gains were slight, but still worth noting as they point to the effectiveness of the activities.

Reflection

The overall study was less than what I was personally expecting, however, it was an eye opening experience to gathering and assessing data. I feel as though I assessed more of the parental involvement factor than if they activities were effective. It would be interesting to do a study strictly on parental involvement before an activity of this nature to see if the activities would really be used and be effective in student learning.

Further study would be needed to test the true effectiveness of a study like this requiring a much larger sample size than was available at the current school. I think testing a study of this nature in different demographic areas would make a large difference. Unfortunately, sending notes home can only do so much. I can’t have direct contact with parents if they are not willing to participate in school events.

If I was to do this study again, I would widen it to multiple schools in multiple areas. I would also gather a wider range of activities other than those from the Florida Center for Reading Research. The activities were fantastic, but there are other ways to create engaging activities for students and parents to do together.

Parental involvement is easily one of the most important factors in the success of children learning to read. Having an experience that put me in the position to work with parents on a project that is aimed to help their child has been a rewarding experience. I look forward to building these relationships with students and their parents in my own classroom in the future!