COMMITTEE CHAIR: Dr. Stella Smith

TITLE: INVESTIGATING FAMILY ENGAGEMENT AMONG PRESERVICE TEACHERS AT HBCUs

ABSTRACT: Family engagement is widely recognized as an essential component of student success and effective school-family-community partnerships. However, research indicates that teacher preparation programs often provide limited or inconsistent preparation for developing meaningful partnerships with families. Although national teacher preparation standards, including the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), emphasize educators’ ability to work effectively with families, less is known about how individuals experience preparation for this responsibility, particularly within Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of individuals associated with HBCU teacher preparation programs regarding preparation for family engagement. The shared phenomenon is preparation for family engagement within HBCU teacher education. Participants will represent three points along the teacher preparation-to-practice continuum: HBCU teacher candidates who have completed core coursework but have not graduated, HBCU teacher-preparation graduates who have not yet begun professional teaching, and novice teachers with fewer than five years of teaching experience. Approximately 8–10 participants will be purposively selected across the three categories. Each participant will complete one semi-structured individual interview as the primary phenomenological data source. A purposively selected subset of approximately 4–6 interview participants will also participate in one focus group to provide complementary contextual perspectives. The study will explore how participants describe their preparation through coursework, clinical experiences, and other program experiences and how they perceive the usefulness of that preparation as they transition into professional practice. Findings may contribute to scholarship on teacher preparation, family engagement, and HBCU education by illuminating how preparation for family engagement is experienced across the teacher preparation-to-practice continuum and may inform more coherent, culturally responsive, and practice-oriented approaches to preparing educators for sustainable school-family-community partnerships.

Keywords: Family Engagement; Teacher Preparation; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Clinical Experiences; School-Family-Community Partnerships

 Zoom Link:

https://pvpanther.zoom.us/j/85750917781?pwd=e2NYcFyaXO7UgdmlYM4aUwZiGTVafO.1

Meeting ID: 857 5091 7781

Passcode: 031172