Dissertation Defense Announcement

The College of Education announces the final dissertation defense of

Trevor Thompson

for the degree of Doctor of Education

March 30, 2016 at 3:30 pm in 123 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Reginald Green, EdD

A Study of Parent Involvement Regarding Children Living With Sickle Cell Disease and Their Parents Perceptions of Their Children's 504/Individualized Education Plan

ABSTRACT:
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affects approximately 30,000 students in the United States and due to stroke, silent cerebral infarction, and cognitive impairment, these students suffer academically. This study examined parents’ perceptions of how their children fared in the education system. Nine parents of children with SCD were interviewed and the following themes emerged: the Star Coordinator from the hospital was key to their child’s academic success, seven of nine children had cognitive issues, All nine parents said their child was allowed to go to rest room, keep water/snacks in class, all nine were advocates for their child and all nine parents said education was the key to success. All nine parents indicated that their children fall behind academically when they are absent from school because of having a sickle cell crisis. The three primary sources of evidence for this study were semi-structured interviews, image elicitation, and document analysis; these were analyzed through the development of individual responses for each participant, which resulted in a cross-case analysis narrative depicting the study’s findings.