Stakeholder consultation relating to non-francophone students enrolled in minority French language schools in pei parents, teachers and school leaders

Purposive sampling was used to involve NF parents who had chosen to enrol their children in one small, rural French minority language school in Prince Edward Island. Parents were informed by the school principal about the research at the beginning of the year and were later invited by the school principal via email to attend an information meeting, and to participate in a survey and focus group discussion. All participants who came (N=6) to the information session completed the survey, and participated in the focus group discussion. The focus group discussions were audio recorded and later transcribed for analysis (Patton, 2002).  Any families who did not participate that evening (N=30) were contacted again by email by the principal and invited to fill out an online version of the survey. After two reminder emails, nine more individuals had participated in the on-line survey, for a total of fifteen (N=15) from 36 potential families; a response rate of 42%.

The content for the focus group and individual interview questions as well as the survey questions was inspired by the issues revealed from the research literature. A similar small scale study conducted in School District 5 in New Brunswick (Vienneau, 2011) and suggestions from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada website (CMEC, 2003) also helped the development of the survey, focus group discussion, and individual interview. In addition, we compared items on our survey with other parental involvement and school climate assessments for parents (Epstein, 1997; Hornby, 2011; Washoe County, 2012). The comparison confirmed commonalities with our construct indicators and after pre-testing with several non-francophone parents and survey and educational experts, we finalized our survey (Appendix A).

The survey consisted of 27 questions, including demographic requests. Two of the 27 questions consisted of a series, one with 16 items assessing the frequency of 16 types of parental involvement, and the other measuring agreement on 21 items regarding parents’ beliefs, experience, and involvement. Both agreement and frequency questions used a five point Likert scale for participants’ responses (Vogt, 2007). The agreement items ranged between one (strongly disagree) and four (strongly agree) with five permitting an answer of don’t know or does not apply.

The nine interview questions for the focus group were prepared in tandem with the survey and were chosen to explore the feelings and experiences of parents as well as to ask why and how questions about navigating a French school system as non-francophone parents (Appendix B). There were twelve questions directed at parents in personal interviews (Appendix C), eight questions were used with school leaders (Appendix D), and thirteen questions guided us with teaching staff (Appendix E).

Standard procedures were followed for cleaning the data. Reverse coding was used on six negatively worded questions. We used SPSS to check frequencies and to conduct other general descriptive analysis as well as for factor analysis to test factors from the agreement and frequencies questions in the survey. Despite the small sample size, we chose exploratory factor analysis to help sort out factors and possible categories. Following this, we began to identify items from frequency and agreement questions which we then placed into three scales. Tables 2, 3, and 4 present the survey items grouped into the three scales and the attained acceptable Cronbach alpha scores for the grouping. These Cronbach scores imply internal consistency in the survey instrument for assessing parental involvement at school, parental involvement at home, and for parental language beliefs (Vogt, 2007). Our use of analysis of variance with these scales against other variables did not show significance, likely due to the small, homogeneous sample. The experience of NF parents did not break out as a scale on its own from our exploratory factor analysis of the survey data and thus, does not have a Cronbach alpha attributed in Table 1.

The results from the quantitative and qualitative data are presented below in table format, followed by a summary of the results, which are highlighted and explored in the discussion section.

The survey sample was quite homogeneous as 100 percent of the NF parents who participated were anglo-dominant and the spouses were reported as 93.3% anglo-dominant. Even paternal and maternal grandparents were reported between 86.7% and 93.3% anglo-dominant, respectively. Those who were not reported as anglo-dominant had learned both English and French from birth. Of the non-francophone parents who completed the survey (N=15), 86.7 % (N=13) were female and 13.3% (N=2) male. Parents’ age ranged from 30 to 50 years (M=43.2 years) and 73.3% (N=11) were married or equivalent, and all were Caucasian. Household incomes varied with 46.7% reporting incomes of $75,000 and higher, while 46.7% reported incomes less than $75, 000 annually. There was a spread in highest level of education among parents, ranging from less than high school, to doctoral degree. Parents reported that the grade level of their children ranged from Kindergarten to grade twelve, though the site school offered kindergarten through grade seven.

Table 1

Parents feel welcome at school 3.93 .26

Parents feel awkward visiting the school 1.1 .35

Mothers speak and understand little French 2.4 1.24

Fathers speak and understand little French 1.64 1.28

Parents satisfied with school’s communication

about child’s progress 3.67 .72

Percentage
Parents have no or low confidence to use French 86.7%

Parents use English to communicate at school 93.3%

Parents use English with principal, teachers,

staff, other parents, child, and students 86.7%

French preschool used by NF parents 73 – 81.8% (first - second child)

Children will complete grade 12 in French school 73.3% yes (20% unsure)

I feel welcome at school 3.93 .26

I feel awkward visiting the school 1.13 .35

I do not attend meet the teacher night 1.13 .35

I chose a French school for French culture as well as language 3.33 .72

I have considered moving my child to an English school 1.93 .70

I feel uncomfortable at social events in French 1.93 .70

I am satisfied with school’s communication about child’s progress 3.67 .72

I agree that the school has provided helpful tips and strategies 3.29 .73

I attend parent-teacher interviews 3.13 .64

I volunteer at school 3.14 1.83

I participate in fundraising for the school 3.33 1.11

I am in contact with the school via notes, calls, or visits 4.80 .56

I ask for updates on my child’s progress at school 3.87 1.13

We discuss the value of education with our children 4.20 1.21

________________________________________________________________________

Table 3

Parental Involvement at Home Cronbach’s alpha = 0,73 _____________________________________________________________________________

Thirteen items M SD

I believe parents should be involved in a child’s education 3.93 .26

We discuss reasons French is important with our child 3.93 1.39

I praise my child for effort at school 4.07 1.03

I assist my child with homework 3.53 1.25

Our family goes to the library 3.27 1.71

I believe as a parent I have influence over my child’s learning 3.69 .48

We have access to someone who can help in French 2.85 1.1

I read to or with my child in French 2.93 1.5 Our family does activities in French in the community 2.67 1.40

I help my child improve French vocabulary 2.47 1.55

We use French radio, TV, or computer for French language activities 2.47 1.73

I do activities in French at home with my child 2.20 1.42

parents’ beliefs. A score of one denoted strongly disagree, and four denoted strongly agree.

Table 4
Parental Beliefs Cronbach’s alpha 0.78
Six items M SD

________________________________________________________________________

There should be staff at school who speak English 3.47 .83

Teachers should use some English in class 2.40 1.35

The francisation at the school has been very helpful 3.60 .74

The school should enforce a French only policy for students 3.27 1.10

Student achievement depends on effort and work 3.27 .80

Student achievement depends on ability 2.87 .64

The qualitative analysis that follows in a table format, is based on the transcriptions of the interviews conducted with NF parents (N=6) who responded to the principal’s invitation to participate in the focus group interview (one of whom had to leave early and thus results are presented out of five), and five parents who were interviewed in person, several weeks after the focus group. These five parents were chosen for personal interviews to reflect parents who had children that were typical (3/5), parents who had children with special needs (2/5), parents who had French proficiency (1/5), and a parent who had a child in francisation due to transfer to the French school at an older age (1/5). The transcription content was analyzed to be assigned to the three broad categories of beliefs, experiences and involvement, and further subdivided to be coded as: parents’ beliefs; parents’ motivations; negative experiences/challenges; positive experiences/advantages; type of PI; degree of PI; barriers to PI at school and in the community; barriers to PI at home; and suggestions to address PI barriers.

Tables 5 to 11 show for each coded category the a) reasons or information given by the parents; b) response by number of parents (in percentages) who shared a similar opinion, comment, or answer (eg.20%= 1/5, 40% = 2/5…100% = 5/5); and c) quotes taken from parents’ answers to questions about motivations, beliefs, experiences and involvement. The quotes embedded in the tables came from parent participants and explain the parents’ experiences, opinions, and code content. Though not every code has a quote, quotes were used from the transcribed interviews as often as possible where the dialogue flowed in a coherent manner and could be presented without editing, as a fully developed idea or explanation, or to present a variety of experiences.
Beliefs
Table 5
Parents’ Motivations for Choosing a French School

_____________________________________________________________________________

Table 6
Parental Beliefs

The parents showed enormously positive regard for their chosen school. We found seven main themes identified by parents as positive attributes of the school, with one overriding factor identified as making the school welcoming and accommodating for NF parents.

Table 7
Positive Experiences and Perceived Advantages

Experience/Perception	%	Quote from parent participant
Quality of education (small class size)	80	“There are less, so many less students so you have more one on one time, your child has more one on one time with the teachers; they can get more help when they need it, and you can’t PAY for a private education for the type of education that we get here….because of the small school and the small class sizes here, they get the one on one, … no child is left behind.”
Quality of education (teachers)	80	“…very good one on one work with students like if struggling. …great staff, great teachers.”
Quality of French language learning	80	“I knew that my children would exit from that school system with a much higher proficiency in both languages than in any other option I would have pursued. And, I couldn’t believe how much she picked up so quickly and I don’t speak French at home.”
Transfer of culture and heritage	40
Transfer of competency from French to English	40	“She went in not speaking or reading a word of French, just her alphabet, couldn’t read any English, and she finished and she was fluent, she could speak and read French and she was reading English.”
Effective communication with the school due to use of English	100	“We go to parent teacher interviews and I call, they speak to me in English when I call, if the secretary answers she realized I am English, she will speak to me in English…, and sometimes she’ll (the principal) send it in English-she’ll send an email out and we’ll get it in French and English” “What our school does is very effective; they send home a bulletin in French with a link that can be translated and the coordinates of the school to contact the school if you have questions” “…also there are frequent emails sent out in both languages and it makes my life an awful lot easier; you’re trying to fit in homework and supper and bedtime, and mommy is sitting at her computer trying to figure out what she is supposed to be doing.”
Accessibility to school	60	“Use of the grandfather clause” “access to pre-school childcare and care before and after school”

The overarching factor that made the experience positive and communication possible for the NF parents was that the school, teachers, and events were accessible to them, at least in part, in English. The general evaluation was that parents experienced overall satisfaction as demonstrated by the following quotes: “We couldn’t be happier. My husband said we could not ask for a better education- it’s awesome. I don’t have the words!” and “ Are you kidding me, I can’t believe everyone isn’t in this school,…..I just know this is highest quality, best environment, best expertise and support, even parent relationships, we are such a team.”

Despite tremendous positive regard for this school, our NF parents reported challenges, negative experiences, and discouraging feelings and concerns.

One parent also voiced a more politically-loaded concern about the lack of resources and leadership for the French minority schools: as relayed here: “the school board could be doing more than what it is doing to support their staff members…. I find it is a little weak in leadership department. I think it is under-resourced and maybe doing the best it can do. They are not given an operational budget to promote growth but the bare minimum to not be taken to court.”