Student’s research supports family life coaching

As a middle school math teacher, Karen Randle was well acquainted with the frustrations of parents watching their perfectly capable adolescents struggling academically, forgetting to do their homework or failing to turn it in. At the same time, she saw adolescents desiring greater independence, while their parents tried to reign them in.

Randle knows that these family conflicts that can send a middle schooler into an academic tailspin. For her graduate research project at NC State University, she decided to explore the value of family life coaching to help improve middle school behaviors and academic performance.

Randle is working on a master’s degree in youth, family and community sciences. Extra coursework she has taken will allow her to become a certified family life educator when she graduates this spring.

Read more from the NC State Graduate School website.