Research informs us that parental involvement and support enhances student academic achievement. Title I guidelines require parental participation in planning programs. The need to gain parental perspectives has become a challenge for school administrators and teachers. This research serves the goal of gaining parental participation and collecting the perceptions of parents whose children participate in federal sponsored programs such as Title I, National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and School Breakfast Program (SBP).
Collaboration with a social service agency, offering services to parents in a specified region, was key to meeting the goals of this project. The collaboration fostered a connection with a social worker that could provide recruitment strategies and facilitate the focus groups in that she already had an existing relationship with parents whose children received services from federal school related programs.
Results from the focus group interviews have provided feedback on how programs are viewed by clients and how school administrators can improve those programs.