Date of Award

Summer 9-1-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

College

College of Education and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Alexander Herring

Second Advisor

Gerard Edwards

Third Advisor

Julie Malcolm

Abstract

There is a significant amount of research documenting the importance of school readiness and its implication for life-long consequences (Jarrett & Coba-Rodriguez, 2017, 2018; Kang et al., 2017; Malsch et al., 2011). Parents play a critical role in supporting the acquisition of all skills needed to prepare children for school readiness. Readiness refers to being prepared with the necessary skills to access learning (Saracho, 2023). The purpose of this study is to explore the practices and perceptions of low-income parents on kindergarten readiness skills in the Hollywood School District (HSD) as measured by the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). Students in HSD enter kindergarten demonstrating readiness at a rate lower than other students in the state of South Carolina (SC Education Oversight Committee). Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with parents of kindergarten students who scored demonstrating readiness on the KRA in a high-poverty, rural school district to gather data on lived experiences with preparing children to start school and their perceptions of readiness. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed themes of parents’ perceptions of readiness and practices. The anti-deficit achievement framework (S. R. Harper, 2010, 2012) served as the basis for developing the research and interview questions from an asset or strengths-based mindset instead of a mindset that focused on what was lacking. Findings indicated how parents successfully prepared their children for kindergarten, their expectations of prekindergarten education, and their misconceptions and perceptions of school readiness

Download

Share

COinS