Family engagement frameworks identify communication as a critical component in creating partnerships with families. However, schools create various barriers to engagement, often starting with a lack of communication, that unequally impact racialized and minoritized families. In addition, the association between communication and family engagement…

This mixed-methods study explored cultural models of parent-school involvement. African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic parents, along with teachers, were recruited from an urban school district. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol based on Joyce Epstein's (1995) framework for parent-school involvement, and…

This study aimed to determine the program satisfaction of Latina mothers who participated in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program in a large, urban area in the Southwest with the purpose of identifying the specific components of HIPPY that Latina mothers feel best supported them in their role as their child's…

The current pilot study examines the impact of the "Ten Education Commandments for Parents" program on (1) new immigrant Latino parents' knowledge of the U.S. public education system, (2) parent engagement, and (3) their children's academic achievement. Utilizing a pre-experimental, pre- and post-test research design, four schools with…

Teachers and administrators in schools with large, working-class Latino populations often complain of parents' indifference or lack of involvement in children's schooling because of their low visibility at school events and relatively little face-to-face communication with teachers and school administration. In a series of semi-structured…

Parental involvement is an important component of children's school success. Although the literature on parental involvement among Latino families is growing and moving from deficit-based perspectives, very few studies have examined the parental involvement beliefs and practices of Latino families who vary across demographic and sociocultural…

This paper examines how Latina mothers experience violence in schools through everyday interactions with those positioned with greater power in our society. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence, the article discusses how deficit perspectives held toward Latina mothers and the privileging of White, middle-class frames result in…

This article describes a unique program co-sponsored by a local public library, a university teacher preparation program, and a school district, created to support Latina/o parents as they produced authentic and culturally relevant literature representing multiple ethnic groups living in the Southwestern United States. A program like the one…

This study examines a grassroots, school-centered parent and family organizing effort from the actual "trenches" in the struggle for equity and excellence in education. This is an exploration of the intrinsic value and the complex dynamics of the organizing process of a small group of Latino immigrant parents struggling to improve their children's…

This paper presents findings from a larger study that examined the roles that parents and caregivers are given and/or choose to enact to support their children's mathematics learning, particularly in relation to their children's math homework. Based on interviews with parents of elementary-age children from three different urban school districts…

Community schools require the active involvement of family and community members in the education and schooling of children both in the home and on the school site. However, schools often have difficulty effectively bringing low-income, diverse parents onto school campuses even when they are involved in their children's education in the home. This…

Schools often consider themselves experts in a child's education. While school personnel are trained to work with children and families and certainly have much experience in the matter, the perspective and values of low-income parents are not always understood nor incorporated into the school culture. Since parent involvement has been shown to…

Examines 158 Latina mothers' acculturation and educational levels with respect to various sociocultural, personal, and contextual factors related to parental involvement. Although less acculturated Latinas reported less knowledge about school activities and more barriers to involvement, they evinced higher perceived efficacy regarding parental…

Focuses on subtle changes that evolved over three-year study of parent involvement cadre working to implement Harry Levin's Accelerated School Model targeted at high-risk students. Although the school in this study appears to have successfully involved parents in their children's education, parent cadre's underlying purpose is not being adequately…

Describes a collaborative parent-involvement project for inner-city Hispanic primary students sponsored by the Chicago Community Trust. A university professor, two graduate assistants, the principal, and the school community representative designed a summer program featuring hospitality and support activities, free books, and hands-on science and…