Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
Stephen Laws
Abstract
Some consider the current arrangement of public education to be counterproductive to change and improvement. There are those who call for more parental choice when it comes to education. One way to provide more choice is bilingual education, more specifically, dual language immersion.
This study sought to determine if dual language immersion programs are viable choice options. This study also investigated and analyzed motivating factors that led parents to enroll their children in dual language immersion programs. This study involved 91 families from three elementary schools in three North Carolina school districts. Participants were surveyed to determine what factors motivated them to enroll their children in a dual language immersion program.
The survey return rate for this study was 59%. Data collected from both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking parents indicated parents chose to enroll their children in dual language immersion programs for several reasons. The top five reasons parents chose to enroll their children in dual language immersion programs are (1) being able to speak, read, and/or write in multiple languages; (2) being more successful in a global economy; (3) being more comfortable relating to other people and other cultures; (4) having a stronger identity as a bilingual/bicultural individual; and (5) being more successful in school.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Taylor, Bryan W., "Parent Motivation Regarding Dual Language Immersion Programs" (2016). Education Dissertations and Projects. 171.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/171