Parental involvement in schoolwork has been shown to positively correlate with academic achievement in the classroom. It is widely accepted that parental involvement has a positive effect on student musical learning. Through the past 50 years, music education researchers have been examining how parental involvement affecting their student's musical achievement through student reporting, however there are few studies with parent generated data to examine parent's perspectives on their involvement with their child's instrumental music learning. Many of these studies examine private lessons, specialized music schools, and conservatories. The purpose of this qualitative, inductive study was to explore the lived experiences of parents with children involved in a public-school instrumental music program. Participants were five (N=5) parents who had at least one child active in either a band or orchestra program in the public schools, selected through a purposive sampling process. Data included semi-structured interviews with each participant, with one follow-up interview. An analysis of the interview data revealed the following themes: (a) previously established beliefs and roles, (b) child-informed beliefs and roles, and (c) school-informed beliefs and roles. In addition to these three themes, a revised theoretical model of parent-child interactions in public school instrumental learning is included. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
