Date of Award
1990
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Education
First Advisor
Patrick Openlander
Second Advisor
James Swift
Third Advisor
Michael Kramer
Abstract
The purpose of this culminating project was to develop a manual to assist parents of students enrolled in Logos High School in St. Louis. Logos combines a high quality academic program with an innovative day treatment program for troubled adolescents.
The project was designed as a qualitative approach to applied field research for program development. It used a participant observer and a Delphi Nominal Technique to gather and analyze the responses of reviewers. Some of the reviewers were themselves participants in a process of dynamic family change while others were professionals.
Until the publication of this manual, the Logos wisdom about effective parenting had been primarily oral, transmitted and refined within the context of the Logos parent support groups. By systematically articulating this experience in written form, the author developed a draft manual and had it reviewed and evaluated by 42 parents and professionals. Revisions were made in the manual on the basis of the evaluation results that were obtained, and a final draft was published in December of 1987 and called the Logos Parent Manual.
Ninety individuals were nominated by the professional staff at Logos to receive a draft of a parent handbook, 56 responded to an initial query that they would be willing to evaluate the document by completing a questionnaire, and 42 actually returned the nine page questionnaire. These 42 included 32 parents of Logos students or Logos alumni and 10 mental health professionals.
The reviewers responded very favorably to the draft. Less than 3% of the responses dealing with specific sections of the manual were negative or disapproving, and less than 1% of the responses dealing with specific items received ratings of "strongly disagree." Reviewers also offered suggestions about additional materials which could strengthen the manual.
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, John Dennis, "Logos Parent Manual" (1990). Theses. 1140.
https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/theses/1140
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