"Parent Involvement is Like Apple Pie": A Look at Parental Involvement in Two States

Abstract

Many legislators and researchers are proclaiming that parental involvement assists in student academic achievement. Although the calling for more parental involvement is evident in literature, there are issues that need to be addressed within the high school. This study looks at one high school, and the issues that teachers, parents, and administrators address while discussing parental involvement.

Two Dimensions of Parent Participation in an Inner School District

“…This is consistent with the lit- (100) erature (see, e.g., Ramirez, 2001). Table 2 summarizes the results for this question.…”

“…Ramirez's (2001) subjects, for example, recognize that their contributions are welcome only up to a point. And de Carvallo (2001), with the fresh viewpoint of a foreign national parent, explicates the lopsided power enjoyed by the schools in the school-family interaction.…”

Table of Contents

“…Hossler, Schmit, and Vesper (1999) differentiate between parental encouragement and parental support, with encouragement defined as conversations between students and their parents about parental expectations and aspirations and support defined more behaviorally as saving for college, visiting higher education campuses with students, and participating in financial aid workshops (p. 24). Other researchers have found that parental involvement in a student's education (Perna and Titus, 2005;Ramirez, 2001;Rowan-Kenyon, Bell, and Perna, 2008;Tierney, 2002) and level of parents' education (Conley, 2001;Ellwood and Kane, 2000;Hallinan, 2000;Hossler and Stage, 1992) are also significant predictors of college attendance. Another family factor that affects predisposition and eventual enrollment in college is socioeconomic status.…”

Las Siete Historias: Perceptions of Parent Involvement Among Mexican Immigrant Women

“…(p. 431) Deficit thinking can actually create a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy where parents begin to adapt their involvement in accordance with how they are perceived by school staff (Voltz, 1994). Conversely, schools where teachers and other staff believe that it is their responsibility to engage in families, meet their needs, and make great efforts to communicate with families using multiple formats have found success in engaging migrant and immigrant Latino populations (López, Scribner, & Mahitivanichcha, 2001;Ramirez, 2001).…”