Volume 4 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 15

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 13 leveraged a renewed interest for character education in America (Lickona, 1996). The 1983 presidential report, A Nation at Risk , renewed concern over public education and reiterated the need for a child’s home life and school life to be re-connected. In recent years, the public sector has become increasingly distressed with society’s youth regarding a plethora of issues in American schools, including student apathy and disengagement, truancy, a decline in test scores, increases in poor student behavior, and youth violence (Guastad, 1992; Otten, 2000; Washor & Mojkowski, 2014). Of these social concerns facing youth, the breakdown of the family and a lack of instruction in moral values, both at school and in the family setting, are identified as key elements (Nucci et al., 2014). In a 2013 study, teachers reported that lack of moral reinforcement at home is one of the most prominent growing problems for educators in the classroom (Bridgeland et al., 2013). Growing fears about school safety or lack of safety within public schools have parents and educators concerned that these trends may be due to today’s youth experiencing a lack of education of character, morals, purpose, and hope (Jeynes, 2019; Lickona, 1996). The Federal Commission on School Safety (2018) recognized systematic character education, through which morals are discussed as a critical strategy in public education, school safety, and positive youth development. The family component of learning and development is essential yet is overwhelmingly neglected by many schools (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2019), many of the problems facing youth are preventable through interventions such as promoting healthy family environments, connecting youth with caring adults, creating protective community environments, and providing universal school-based programs with family engagement. Dr. Joyce Epstein’s (2002) family engagement framework defines six types of parent involvement. Of her six types, Type 4, learning at home , was found to have the biggest impact on student outcomes (Epstein, 2002). Involving families in their child’s education provides a more well-rounded character development approach and provides a valuable solution to a critical piece in education (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995). Although research shows the benefits of character education and family engagement as separate and important strategies in American education today, there is little research on the association of the two, with family engagement as a component of character education programs. Currently, there appears to be limited information on effective programs that support collaborative efforts between teachers, students, and parents to ensure students understand their family core values, morals, and foundational beliefs. The current study explored an explicit character education program, and addressed the effectiveness of linking family engagement and purpose as key elements of the program. Research Design The current study explored a character education program with a family engagement component in a North Texas charter school district. The current study was conducted to determine the perceptions of the teachers and parents participating in the program. The current study used two teacher and two parent focus groups to gain perceptions on the character education and family engagement program. Teachers and parents were further categorized into two groups: those who had high participation rates throughout the program and those who had low participation rates to compare and contrast findings. The four groups were categorized to provide feedback to the following research questions: Research Question 1 (RQ1) What are the perceptions of teachers of the character and family engagement curriculum in a North Texas charter school district? Research Question 2 (RQ2) What are the perceptions of parents of the character and family engagement curriculum? A qualitative action research design was chosen for the current study. Purposive sampling was used to select the most suitable participants for the objectives of the study based on varying levels of participation in the family-