Honors College Theses

Publication Date

4-7-2014

Major

Early Childhood Education (B.S.Ed.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Lina Bell Soares

Abstract

This study sought to answer the question, “What teacher characteristics do parents value most?” as an initial response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.The purpose of this study was to determine what teacher characteristics parents perceive as making teachers highly qualified to be used to improve parent-teacher relations and teacher effectiveness. To answer this question, a survey was used to collect data from the parents of K-5 students. 176 surveys were returned out of the 800 administered and were used to help the researcher conclude that there is not a teacher characteristic that stands alone to make a teacher highly qualified in terms of parent based preference. Of the eight characteristics examined, all but one received a majority ranking of 5 for “very important,” signifying that it is a combination of teacher characteristics that parents value. The remaining characteristic (The teacher supports and encourages me to utilize school community council.) only received a ranking of 5 for 67 of the 176 participants. This information lead the researcher to believe that less than half of parents either a) believe a teacher needs to inform parents of school organizations or b) see participation in such organizations as valuable to themselves.

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