Case study analysis of the Families of Merit Program and its impact on parents and their self-efficacy

The Families of Merit Program was designed as an adult education course that could build individual self-efficacy and parental self-efficacy to effect outcomes that would benefit their child and the school. Building this self-efficacy in a community where those children served are predominately in poverty presents a compounded challenge. The Families of Merit Program was conducted from fall 2010 to spring 2015 at an elementary school in Texas that served a school community where 90 percent of the students were in poverty. In addition, the school faced challenges meeting accountability standards and had a decline in parent involvement. A mixed-methods case study was completed to investigate the impact of the program on the parents and their families. An adapted self-efficacy survey was administered to participants before and after program participation. In addition, focus group interviews were held with alumni of the program to look more deeply at the effect that the program had on the individuals who participated.;The survey responses were analyzed using a dependent samples t-test to measure significance. Results showed significance on five of the thirteen questions on the survey. Additionally, all of the question item means increased and the standard deviation decreased regarding items response scores comparisons. Focus group interviews were transcribed and coded by categories that related to the research questions. Interview responses reinforced the positive trends noted in the survey data. Parents used the program as an impetus to become more involved in their children's education, their own education, and the school.