Examining the Influence of the Urban Environment on Parent's Time and Resources for Engagement in Their Children's Learning

Author: Carrie Makarewicz

Dissertation School: University of California

Abstract:

This study proposes to examine the extent to which barriers in the urban environment, such as housing conditions and affordability, neighborhood conditions and amenities, and transportation problems limit the amount of time, energy, and resources (personal, social, informational, and financial) that parents in low-income neighborhoods in Oakland, California, have to be engaged in their children’s learning and education. The study is based on education research that establishes parental involvement as a crucial factor in student achievement but that multiple barriers prevent parents from being more actively involved. These barriers include a parent’s educational experiences and attitudes, housing instability, long or irregular work hours, transportation problems, limited access to enrichment activities, lack of school communications, and other constraints related to neighborhoods, household care, and health. But while the research on barriers is comprehensive, the solutions have been narrower: the focus is often on actions within the realm of educators and connected social service providers. The neighborhood effects research on impacts to childhood development, social capital, and employment outcomes provides insight into addressing these barriers, but this research is limited on addressing the effects related to the parent’s role in children’s formal and informal learning and development.

This study will extend the education and planning literatures through a mixed-method case study of 85 families whose children attend a K-12 public school in Oakland. Families will be from neighborhoods throughout the city and recruited through various methods in order to achieve a purposive sample by geography, income, family structure, and school type. Parent background information will be collected through a survey on their demographics, education, and employment history; housing status; employment status; and travel mode and costs. Parents will also complete a 2-day time-use diary for a weekday and weekend day. Following the survey and diary, more in-depth information on mobility costs and choices; travel for work, groceries, household items, and leisure; aspirations for their children; their social network; and the types and frequency of learning activities with their children will be collected through semi-structured in-home interviews. Professionals from the community who work with the schools and nonprofits will assist with interview access and conduct.

Primary and secondary data on each family’s neighborhood will depict the environment for each family’s activities and travel patterns. Variables include housing stock, local businesses, public agencies and nonprofits, access to employment and other destinations, the costs, quality, and choice of transportation modes, and neighborhood sociodemographics. These variables are rarely studied within the education literature or at a small geographic scale or in national and regional time-use and travel surveys. Thus, the combination of housing data, time-use, neighborhood conditions, travel patterns, and qualitative descriptions from parents about their daily activities and engagement with their children will be a unique contribution to the practices of urban development and education.

To triangulate the data collected from parents and neighborhood observation, and to inform policy on neighborhood development, I will collect additional perspectives on barriers to engagement and neighborhood conditions through interviews with teachers, principals, afterschool programs, and social service providers. Interviews with city, county, and regional planners on housing, transportation, and redevelopment will explore planners’ perspectives on parents’ needs.

Results will be presented qualitatively and quantitatively. I will use statistical methods to compare the survey and diary results to the American Time Use Survey, the Bay Area Transportation Survey, and the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index. This analysis will reveal whether low-income parents in different neighborhoods are particularly time- or cost-burdened or advantaged by aspects of their environment and if those constraints or benefits influence their engagement with their children. The expected findings will assist groups and government agencies working to expand the resources available to address the educational achievement gap through cross-sector and agency collaboration to create fair and sustainable communities, including the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education.

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