Families play a critical role in their children's career and college decision making. Students' academic and postsecondary choices are often shaped by their own parents/families' experiences and/or information they have about processes, deadlines, and requirements. The focus of this study is a college awareness and outreach program meant to inform…

While the national high school graduation rates for culturally and linguistically diverse students have increased in the last five years, less than half of these students transition from high school to postsecondary settings. In this article we share the lessons learned from nearly a decade of college access and career readiness efforts by a…

Parents have long served a crucial role in their children's postsecondary success through guidance and support. In an effort to help Latina/o parents in emerging immigrant communities overcome any limits to their knowledge around college-going practices, this study evaluates the feasibility and beginning efficacy of a parent-focused,…

Over the past century in the U.S., stronger parental involvement in children's education has been encouraged and, more recently, codified into state teaching standards. Despite this, fully engaging parents as equal and respected partners has remained elusive. The quest seems particularly perplexing when attempting to enhance participation of…

This case study provides an overview of a family outreach intervention that supports student retention in school through a school-home communication link. This intervention structure, which employs staff appropriately called parent involvement facilitators (PIFs), is one that school districts have employed to facilitate family engagement in…

In general, youth whose parents are involved in their schooling experience better academic outcomes. Yet some parents, especially those with few resources in low-income urban communities, face barriers to becoming engaged in school and community. This report from the field describes the "Neighboring Project Parent Empowerment and Volunteer…

This article describes the development and evaluation of a classroom-based, low-cost intervention to increase parents' involvement in their children's education. In Phase 1 of the study, 17 parents of 8th grade students in a low-income, high immigrant and minority school district were interviewed to conduct a qualitative assessment of factors…

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…