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In search of satisfaction: African-American mothers' choice for faith-based education

Barnes-Wright, Lenora Aileen

Abstract Details

2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Policy and Leadership.
This research provides an in-depth view of the decision-making process used by African-American parents when enrolling their children in church/ faith-based schools. The specific questions guiding this research project were: What do African-American mothers believe are the primary purposes of education for their children? Why have some African-American families chosen to not enroll their daughters and sons in public schools? What are the factors that lead individual African-American mothers to look to faith-based education for their children’s education? What specific criteria do African-American mothers use when considering and selecting an educational program for their children? What sacrifices are African-American families willing to make in order to secure a quality educational experience for their children? This study was conducted using the Delphi Method which requires the establishment of a "panel of experts" with whom the research questions can be explored. African-American mothers or other primary caregivers who 1) attended a selected African-American protestant congregation; and, 2) had children enrolled in a faith-based school in grades kindergarten through eight, were recruited to serve on the panel. Nineteen mothers agreed to serve as "expert-participants." The Delphi process included an initial round during which expert-participants responded to an 8-item open-ended questionnaire that was issued online. Subsequently, a questionnaire of 151 position statements was developed from the synthesized responses. Sixty of the position statements were appropriate for use with the Delphi Method. At the completion of the study, panel members achieved consensus* on 47 items that explored: 1) the purposes of Kindergarten – 8th grade education; 2) the factors why families looked beyond public schools to choose faith-based schools; and, 3) the components of an ideal K-8th grade education. Areas where consensus was not achieved provided additional information in exploring the differing perceptions and beliefs that existed within the families represented. Additional descriptive data regarding the families' experiences with faith-based education were gained through the statistical analysis of the remaining items. * Consensus was achieved when 80% of the responses fell within two points on a 6-point Likert scale.
Seymour Kleinman (Advisor)
201 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Barnes-Wright, L. A. (2004). In search of satisfaction: African-American mothers' choice for faith-based education [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1102019168

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Barnes-Wright, Lenora. In search of satisfaction: African-American mothers' choice for faith-based education. 2004. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1102019168.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Barnes-Wright, Lenora. "In search of satisfaction: African-American mothers' choice for faith-based education." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1102019168

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)