A study of parental involvement in three central Illinois school band programs

Abstract

Three Central Illinois band programs were chosen at random for this study which involved 369 eighth and eleventh grade students and 656 parents. Students and parents were placed by their band director in one of four sub-groups for data collection and analysis based on the students current musical achievement as compared to their peers: above average, average, below average and dropouts. Questionnaires were administered to the eighth and eleventh grade students during the school day. Parent questionnaires were mailed directly to each individual parent.

Conclusions were: (1) Parental involvement activities may be organized into three categories: Category I - Child Supportive Parental Involvement Activities; Category II - Parental Involvement Activities Supportive of the Total Program Which Directly Impact the Individual Child; and Category III - Parental Involvement Activities Supportive of the total Program Which Indirectly Impact the Individual Child. (2) Parental involvement activities in all categories are perceived by school administrators, band directors, students and their parents as important to the success of individual student success and total band program success. (3) The activities in which parents are involved were revealed by this study to have developed over time due to a perception by the parents that these specific activities were expected by the school and the child and were, therefore, important. (4) Band directors in this study had specific expectations for parental involvement that commonly were not being communicated to all the parents on a regular basis. Booster organizations served primarily fiscal needs and other non-academic purposes. (5) There is a difference in the quantity and quality of parental involvement activities identified by this study among students judged to be above average, average, and below average in musical achievement. (6) Parents of students who dropped band were not as supportive of their child's participation in band; they were similar in the type and degree of involvement with their child to the parents of students who were judged as below average. (7) Parents of band students, especially those who were judged to be below average by the band director, were desirous of more information concerning the musical strengths and weaknesses of their child and what they might do to help their child. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)