Ayuko Boomer

Term

Fall 2023

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

EdD

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Trish Harvey

Abstract

Boomer, A. U. (2023). Striving to Increase BIPOC Family Participation in Early Childhood Family Education. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is a public education program designed and available for all parents and families in Minnesota. Despite these intentions, many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families remain unaware of ECFE's existence and its significance. The purpose of this study is to understand the current methodologies of parent education outreach and collaboration with other programs, in particular, BIPOC communities, and explore and process what efforts have been made to increase BIPOC participation in traditional ECFE parent education group classes (non-affinity groups) in Minnesota. The research also examines BIPOC participation in traditional ECFE classes and explores and discovers the types of support ECFE educators and coordinators need to reach the BIPOC communities. The research also details the history and purpose of parent education and the development of ECFE to uncover the importance of this support. Additional information includes the significance of parent involvement and parent education classes, ECFE’s outreach methodologies, the role and process of being parent educators, and barriers to reaching all its community members. The research design involved a qualitative research approach that included a survey and interviews. The survey data was collected from various districts, including urban, suburban, and rural areas with BIPOC residents. The interviewers were selected through the voluntary checklist on the survey. The survey and interviews allowed personal narratives to flourish and have individualized perspectives and reflections on the participants' experiences while acknowledging the agreed expectations of their roles and responsibilities. The study revealed participants' differing ideas and thoughts about outreach and increasing involvement for BIPOC families. The interview process honed in on the personal and specific issues that may occur in each region and the variety of processes of working to include more BIPOC families in their district. The study revealed major learnings of building trust, creating support, and involving committed staff to increase BIPOC family participation in Early Childhood Family Education.

Research Methodology

Interview, Survey (attitude scale, opinion, questionnaire)

Keywords

Community Building, Parent Involvement, Outreach, ECFE

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

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