**EXHIBIT A**

**FOCUS GROUP PROTOCOL\
**

Native American Parent Involvement\
REL Study 1.2.9\
Summer 2006 -- Summer 2007

# Welcome to Participants

Participants will be welcomed by the facilitator and the note-taker in a
culturally appropriate manner.

## Opening Comments and Introductions

### Introduction of facilitator and note-taker

#### ***[NOTE]{.underline}***: Facilitator and note-taker will introduce themselves by providing their names and affiliation with the study. Facilitator will provide further information on her tribe/nation and other culturally appropriate information.

### Purpose of gathering[^1]

The purpose of our conversation today is to gather information about how
Native American parents and families get involved in their children's
education. This conversation is one of four being conducted by McREL to
determine how Native American parents and family members become involved
in the education process. We are particularly interested in identifying
barriers to your involvement, as well as strategies that encourage you
to participate more fully in your children's education.

### Importance of their participation

Some teachers and school personnel who are not of Native American
descent know little about the way Native American families prefer to
participate in their children's education. In order to give Native
American children the best possible chance of achieving to their full
potential, we have invited you to participate in these conversations and
share your ideas about how you encourage your children to succeed in
school and how you interact with the schools they attend. Once we gather
information from this and the other conversations, we will provide the
information to schools and districts so they can develop better ways to
welcome you into the schools. We also hope that the information gathered
from these conversations will help increase the participation of all
Native American parents and families in their children's education.

### Session expectations

It is important that you know that there are no right or wrong answers
to the questions we will be asking; all of your responses, comments, and
questions are good and important. Feel free to ask for clarification
about anything you don't understand. You will not only help yourself,
but all of the others who are engaged in this discussion. We would like
for all of you to participate. Your opinion is very important to us, but
you should not feel pressured to share any information that you don't
want to share. It is okay to disagree with the opinions of each other
and to share what is on your minds. We're interested in the variety of
opinions this group represents. In order for us to have a friendly and
productive conversation, we would like to establish some rules on how we
want to communicate with each other during this session.

-   Try to speak up so we all can hear each other.

-   To be able to hear each other, try to speak one person at a time (a
    talking feather or a talking stick will be used for this purpose).

-   Be respectful of each other's ideas and opinions.

-   What is said in the group stays in the group: Keep all comments
    confidential.

-   Are there any questions?

### Agenda for the focus group session

As we explained earlier, we hope to hear your perspectives on being
involved in your children's education. Our purpose is to learn how
teachers and other educators can work together with parents and families
of their Native American students. To begin, I'll ask you to introduce
yourself/ves. Following introductions, I'll ask some questions about
parents' and family involvement in their children's education. Before we
finish the session, I'll ask you if we have left anything out of the
discussion that is particularly important to you that we understand. At
that time, you will be able to share anything else that is on your mind
about the manner in which you and your child's teachers interact.
Introduction of participants

We would like for you to introduce yourself by sharing with all of us
the following information:

-   Your name

-   Your Tribe/Nation affiliation

-   How many children you have and their ages

-   The schools and grades your children attend

#### ***[NOTE]{.underline}***: Each person will introduce himself/herself to the group.

Thank you. You bring important perspectives to this discussion. We will
now start with the questions for our more formal conversation.

## Focus group questions 

### Topic One: What is parent involvement? 

In the field of education, we talk a lot about the importance of parents
participating in the education of their children. This first set of
questions deals with parent involvement and your perceptions about what
it means to be involved in your children's education.

**Lead 1:** Have you heard the term parent involvement? What comes to
mind when you hear people talk about parent involvement?

**Lead 2:** How do you think schools want parents to be involved in
their children's education?\
\
[Probe 1:]{.underline} Has anyone in your school---a teacher, the
principal, or another person---explained to you how to participate or
helped you to be involved in your children's education? Could you give
us a few examples?

**Lead 3:** Why do you think schools want parents to get involved in
their children's education?\
\
[Probe 1:]{.underline} Are there any benefits to being involved? What
are they?

> [Probe 2:]{.underline} Are there any disadvantages to such
> involvement? Give us a few examples.

### Topic Two: How do Native American parents and other family members become involved in their children's education?

As we explained earlier, we are very interested in finding out how
Native American parents and other family members get involved in the
education of their children. The following questions refer to how you
and other family members participate in the education of your children.

**Lead 4:** There are many ways in which parents and families
participate and become involved in their children's education. Which of
your family members is involved in your children's education?

> [Probe 1]{.underline}: How do you, as a parent, prefer to be involved
> in your children's education?
>
> [Probe 2]{.underline}: What about other family members? How do they
> prefer to get involved?

**Lead 5**: What things do you do to support your children's education?

> [Probe 1]{.underline}: Do you encourage your children to go to school?
> If yes, how do you do that? If no, why not?
>
> [Probe 2]{.underline}: Do you encourage your children to work/study
> hard? If yes, how do you do that? If not, why not?

**Lead 6:** How do your children feel about your involvement in their
education?

> [Probe 1:]{.underline} Do they like that you are involved in their
> education? Why?

**Lead 7:** Do you think that your involvement/participation in your
children's education helps them do better in school? If so, why?

### Topic Three: Barriers to parent involvement

The following questions deal with things that discourage or prevent you
from participating in your children's education.

**Lead 8:** Have you ever encountered any difficulties or obstacles to
getting involved in your children's education?

> [Probe 1:]{.underline} Have you ever wanted to get involved in your
> children's education but found that your school discouraged it? Can
> you provide some examples?
>
> [Probe 2:]{.underline} Have you ever participated in your children's
> education but found that the way in which you were involved was not
> considered useful by the school? Describe the situation(s) or provide
> some examples.

### Topic Four: Facilitating parent involvement 

The last few questions are about what have you experienced in the
schools that has helped you be more involved in your children's
education.

**Lead 9:** Schools sometimes try to get parents to participate in their
children's education. What strategies have schools used that have helped
you, as Native American parents, get involved your children's education?

> [Probe 1:]{.underline} What things do schools do that you like or that
> encourage Native American families to participate in their children's
> education?

**Lead 10:** Do you have any suggestions for schools or districts that
would help you get more involved in your children's education?

> [Probe 1:]{.underline} What would you like schools to do to make you
> feel that you are better supporting your children's education?

### Additional comments

That's all of the questions that we have.

Are there any other questions that you think we should have asked, but
didn't? Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us?

Thank you very much for all of the comments and experiences you have
shared with us. Your participation in this study will help us understand
what works for the Native American community in terms of your
participation in your children's education. This study is very important
because we are certain that if parents, families, and schools work
together, children will benefit.

**BURDEN STATEMENT/REVISED\
TO FIT THE NEEDS\
OF THE**

**FOCUS GROUP\
DATA COLLECTION FORMAT**

**(This burden statement is *not applicable* to this instrument because
participants will not see it. This is a protocol that the group
facilitator will use to conduct the focus group session)**

**Paperwork Burden Statement**

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are
required to respond to a collection of information unless such
collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control
number for this information collection is 1800-011-v.76. The time
required to provide the requested information is estimated to average a
maximum of 1.5 hours including the time to get instructions, sign
consent forms, and respond to the group facilitator's questions. **If
you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or
suggestions for improving this form, please write to:** U.S. Department
of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202-4700. **If you have comments or
concerns regarding this group session, write directly to:** Sandra
Garcia, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education,
555 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Room 506C, Washington, D.C. 20208-4651.

[^1]: Although this protocol is scripted, it is expected that the
    facilitator will read the scripts with careful observation and
    reading of cues from participants and will adapt the scripted
    statements and phrasing to accommodate the communication needs and
    styles of the participants. In order to gain access and an adequate
    level of trust from participants, the facilitator will explain the
    information in a way that makes sense to participants. Flexibility
    in the facilitator's role is critical to obtain the type of
    information sought in the study.