This work focuses on parental involvement, which is considered a crucial element of school performance, especially in the case of students belonging to cultural minorities. It presents findings of modern notable research studies that examined the cultural dimensions of parental involvement in middle childhood. It also focuses on the issue that the…

This paper asks a series of questions to prompt critical, informed thinking around research and practice in relation to parental engagement with children's learning. The questions ask how we, who research and work in this area, acknowledge and deal with the discourse of a culture of poverty, whether and if the "private sphere" of the…

This case presents how a family-school liaison, Claudia Vasquez, attempts to cultivate deeper relationships between families and a bilingual elementary program. Two challenges that Claudia faces are the multiple roles and responsibilities placed upon her, as well as the lack of support from her school community toward engaging multiply-minoritized…

Salim is the father of a young girl who attends Small Fortune Preschool located in the suburb of Detroit. Although he would like to regularly participate in his child's school events, his beliefs restrain him from helping in the classrooms headed by female teachers, unless his wife is present. This case demonstrates some of the challenges that…

Closing the U.S. academic achievement gap is as complex as it is comprehensive due to the disproportion of instructional opportunities available to underserved student populations. Underserved student populations are defined as minority and/or students of color from low-socioeconomic families and communities, English language learners and recent…

Communicating with parents is a key role for teachers to foster relationships that will support student learning. This essay and discussion article focuses on a range of strategies teachers can use to promote effective communication with parents of children with special needs. The increasing prevalence of students with disabilities in our schools…

Around the world, we are seeing the highest number of displaced people to date, with an increasing trend since 2012. With the U.S. historically being leaders as a receiving country for refugee resettlement, research needs to focus on supporting refugee families with children with disabilities and the teachers who serve them. Literature in special…

In 2015, the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission, now known as the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity, emphasized the importance of parent and family engagement to the effectiveness of public education. The complex task of navigating educational systems has become further complicated by the pandemic over the past two years. It is…

African American children and youth are disproportionately represented in special education, school suspensions, expulsion, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Research indicates that increasing the engagement of African American parents in their child's education is an indicator of academic success for African American students. This article…

Literature in the field of minority parent participation has focused on cultural differences and cultural mismatch as reasons for the difficulties that minority parents face in schools and has relied on a framework of cultural sensitivity in exploring the issues. Soyoung Lee proposes that the real issue underlying the dynamics between minority…

This is a summary of a case study that analyses two campaigns for parents in Israel: the Magic Moments campaign focussing on the Hebrew speaking population and the Beautiful Moments campaign focussing on the Arabic speaking population. Both campaigns aimed to raise parental awareness of how the time they spend with children contributes to child…

This is the closing paper in a "Scottish Educational Review" collection on "Making Space for Play in Scottish Education." The paper reflects on the key conclusions from the six papers and three notes that comprise the collection. It identifies a baker's dozen of priority actions for those concerned to enrich Scottish education…

When an English learner is referred for an evaluation for disability and possible special education services, educators must establish a trusting relationship with that student's family, clarifying the process for them and making the family part of all decision making. Urtubey explains cultural differences we should be aware of in how many Latinx…

In this closing commentary to the special edition of "Learning Disability Quarterly" ("LDQ") on parent voice in educational decision making for students with learning disabilities, we briefly survey main topics from each article, illuminating important findings from the authors, along with several questions they raise, and…

Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or somewhere else on the gender/sexuality spectrum (LGBTQI+) are among the diverse student groups in need of extra support and protection in order to succeed in education and reach their full potential. Because they belong to a minority that is often excluded by…