03/05/2025
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Latifah Alfonso Phillips “Strengthening Families' Self-Efficacy, Perceived Knowledge and Skills, and Parental Role Construction to Foster School Engagement”

Candidate: Latifah Alfonso Phillips
Degree: Doctoral- Leadership in Schooling
Defense Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Remote Zoom link
Thesis/Dissertation Title: "Strengthening Families' Self-Efficacy, Perceived Knowledge and Skills, and Parental Role Construction to Foster School Engagement”

Dissertation Committee
Dissertation Chair: Michelle Scribner, Ed.D., Clinical Professor, Mathematics and Science Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: Colleen Tapley, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: James Nehring, Ed.D., Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: Phitsamay Uy, Ed.D.
Associate Professor, Leadership in Schooling, Graduate Coordinator for Ed.D Programs, and Co-director of Center for Asian American Studies, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
This study investigated the impact of a five-week Family Institute on families’ sense of self-efficacy, perceived knowledge and skills, and parental role construction, which are constructs that contribute to family involvement based on Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s conceptual model. The study targeted families of 5th and 6th grade Hispanic/Latino students scoring two or more grade levels below on standardized literacy assessments.
This study aimed for a 10% positive increase in these constructs as measured by the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler pre-/post survey. Exit tickets and semi-structured focus group interviews were collected for qualitative analysis. Findings indicated a 19.47% increase in parental self-efficacy and a 16.05% increase in parental perceptions of knowledge and skills. However, the parental role construction construct only yielded an increase of 3.99%. When disaggregated by linguistic group, dominant English participants’ results remained stagnant across the three constructs while the Spanish and Portuguese dominant participants approached or exceeded the target for self-efficacy and perceived knowledge and skills but showed minimal growth in parental role construction. Qualitative data analysis revealed four prevalent themes across all three linguistic groups: 1) Parents/Caregivers increased their understanding of academic data; 2) Parents/Caregivers reported positive relationship-building as a newly acquired skill; 3) Parents/Caregivers want to support their children’s school success despite doubting their ability to help them academically; 4) The Family Institute successfully facilitated opportunities for parent/caregiver connections, fostering a sense of community. Epstein and Sanders posit that students have greater learning outcomes and school success when there is collaboration between home, school, and community.
Foundational for effective instruction, (3) collaboration among students enhances content understanding, while collaboration among teachers improves pedagogical effectiveness, and (4) building teacher background knowledge and collective efficacy through the PLC model fosters culturally responsive teaching. Findings suggest that professional development focused on cultural knowledge and collaborative reflection can enhance teachers' attitudes and instructional practices, leading to improved student engagement and learning outcomes.