Abstract
Current education policy advocates family-centered practices over child-centered ones. While family-centered philosophies are being adopted in schools, educators are having problems changing their actual practices with families. This study reports the results of an applied research case study within an ethnically diverse elementary school. Families’ and educators’ perceptions of family-centered practices were examined for the purpose of improving practices. Twelve educators and 129 families completed a survey measuring perceptions of typical and ideal family-centered practices. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to provide a description of the patterning of the families’ perceptions of the school’s family-centered practices. Three main factors accounted for 57% of variance, Positive Relating with Families, Partnering with Families, and Family-Focused Approaches. There were no differences between educators and families for either typical or ideal ratings of family-centered practices. Both educators and families desired a higher level of family-centered practices than they were currently providing or receiving. Analyses considering demographic characteristics indicated significant group differences. The higher the education level of families the higher they rated the level of ideal practices desired, but this was not so for typical practices. Single-parent families rated typical family-centered practices at their school lower than did two-parent families. No differences were found among these diverse families by ethnicity or home language. The implications for school psychologists’ work with families and schools are discussed.
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Ho, B.S., Robinette, S.J. & Gonzales, R. An Applied Research Study of Family-Centered Practices in an Ethnically Diverse Elementary School. Contemp School Psychol 7, 27–38 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340887
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340887