The effects of a family mathematics workshop on the mathematics achievement of middle grades African American students, 1998
Sadler, Ada M.
1990-1999
This study was an investigation of the effects of a Family Mathematics Workshop on African American students' mathematics achievement and parent-child interaction with mathematics homework. A one way analysis of variance and the SPSS for ms Windows release 6.1 were used to test the null hypothesis. The study is based on Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres which proposes that when the school and family unite in a partnership for children, their overlapping spheres of influence foster a positive attitude about mathematics at home that helps children learn mathematics at school. The researcher found no significant difference between the posttest scores of the controlled and experimental groups. Further, there was no significant difference found in parent/child interaction of the experimental group with mathematics homework before and after the workshop. However, positive responses indicated an increase in the number of times per week parents played mathematics games with their children; the degree of parents' understanding of the lessons and assignments presented in their children's present mathematics textbook; and the degree of confidence parents' have in their ability to help their children with mathematics homework. The conclusions drawn from the findings are that parental involvement in the educational process indicates positive impacts on students' achievement. This five session four-hour Family Mathematics study may have been too short to assess the impact of the Family Mathematics approach on these variables. A long term study is needed to assess the impact of the program on students' achievement. This study was also limited by having a sample size of only 20 fifth grade students in both the experimental and control groups.
text
application/pdf
1998-05-01
thesis
Education Specialist (EdS)
Clark Atlanta University
Curriculum
Thompson, Ruby
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1998_sadler_ada_m