Low Socioeconomic Schools and Parent Involvement

A common assignment on Low Socioeconomic Schools and Parent Involvement is as follows:

Critique a written article that to use in a literary review. Do your literary review on parent involvement and low socioeconomic schools and its affects on student achievement. The students who receive extra home support have better success in school. Reaching America's neediest children takes creativity and support. Partnerships between schools and other services, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program, as well as volunteer networks and local businesses can help create opportunities for children. Programs need to be both accessible and convenient for parents who work, provide transportation and day care, if needed. That's why state governments need to lobby for funding to help established academic programs at school branch out and reach low income children when school is out.

How to Critique a Journal Article on
Low Socioeconomic Schools and Parent Involvement

1. What type of research most accurately describes this study? Quantitative, qualitative or mixed method? Which mixed method (sequential, concurrent, transformative)?
2. The Problem
   1. Is it clearly defined?
   2. How is the hypothesis, research questions, objective, purpose formulated?
   3. Theoretical framework?
3. Is there a review of relevant literature? Does it help make the case for the study?
4. The Design
   1. Appropriate research design to utilize to address the problem?
   2. What is the population? The sample? What type of sample?
   3. Were the samplings (groups) methods clearly outlined, randomized (etc)?
5. The Procedure
   1. Were treatment/data collection methods described so that you could replicate the study? (or at least fully understand what they did)
   2. Was the sample adequately described?
   3. Was there an explanation of extraneous sources of error, i.e. did they control for confounding variables?
6. The Measurement
   1. Was there any evidence of reliability and/or validity of the instrumentation?
7. Discussion & Interpretation
   1. Were the results consistent with the obtained data?
   2. Were there generalizations made about the population from which the sample was drawn?
8. Was this a significant study? Why or why not?
9. How would you have conducted the study differently? Give a rationale.

Children who live in the United States attend school 180 days each year. After school hours throughout the academic year and during the summer, low income children generally do not have access to the same types of educational opportunities as children from more financially secure homes. Researchers found that out-of-school time can be a dangerous time for children and teenagers who are unsupervised. One study proved that unsupervised youth are more likely to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco. The study also found that these young people tend to participate in high-risk behaviors and criminal acts, get lower grades in school, and have a higher drop out rate than children and adolescents who have are enrolled in or have the opportunity to participate in adult-supervised, after-school and summer activities and programs.