A phenomenological study of parents' involvement in mathematics instruction.

摘要

Many areas of support are needed when educating children and youth in mathematics education. One of the untapped areas is that of parental support and involvement. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the "lived" experiences of parental involvement in their children's mathematics home instruction through individual interviews, focus group discussions, and field notes. Phenomenology and existentialism frameworks delved into the internal beliefs, experiences and perspectives of the participants instructing their children at home. Moreover, constructivism discerned the "how" of learning mathematics. Twelve elementary and middle school parents were purposeful randomly selected and eleven were interviewed with open-ended questions about their experiences of involvement in their children's mathematics learning. Seven elementary and middle school participated in two focus groups. Researching the experiences of parental involvement in mathematics is in support of students passing Standard of Learning (SOL) assessment in the state of Virginia. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, each state was given the flexibility to improve student learning and quality of instruction (United States Department of Education [USDE], 2012). Educators, parents, and legislators are concerned with passing the SOL mathematics assessment as the parameters changed in 2012. Parents' perspectives of their involvement in student mathematics learning benefit all stakeholders (United States Department of Education [USDE], 2007). According to the Virginia Department of Education (2012b) all schools and school divisions were previously expected to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets; however, with a two year flexibility waiver granted in June, 2012, Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO) in reading and mathematics replaces AYP. The rigorous SOL mathematics assessments and stringent guidelines set forth by the federal government impacted student's academic performance on the SOL mathematics assessment. Data collected provided various vantage points of awareness developed common themes of the parents' perspectives, support, and involvement of their children's mathematics home learning.