Preventing School Failure, 55(3), 115–122, 2011

Copyright
C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 1045-988X print

DOI: 10.1080/10459880903472876

Parental Involvement: The Missing Link in School

Achievement
MICHELLE LAROCQUE1, IRA KLEIMAN2, and SHARON M. DARLING1
1
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA
2
Bradford Academy, Southfield, MI, USA

The value of parental participation is widely accepted, but participation is difficult to promote and maintain. Schools are becoming
more diverse, and a great challenge facing educators is meeting the needs of all students. Closing the achievement gap and increasing
student learning requires the collaboration of various interested groups, most notably parents. Families play an important role in
creating a school that meets their child’s needs, yet teachers admit they have little information or training on how to effectively work
with diverse parents. In this article, numerous strategies for addressing barriers to school involvement and participation are presented.
Methods for using families’ cultures and experiences are also explored as a base for new learning and understanding.
Keywords: academic success, closing achievement gap, collaboration, cultural differences, diversity, educational equity, involvement,
parental involvement

Parenting a child is an awesome joy and responsibility. ucational achievement, is parental involvement (Colombo,
The role of parent is all-encompassing to include the role 2006). Schools, even well-intentioned ones, cannot educate
of educator. Typically parents and caregivers are a child’s every child on their own. They need the active support of
first and most interested teachers. This role does not cease community and family. School improvement requires the
to exist when children enter school; in fact, families play collaboration of various interest groups—families, com-
a critical role in the education of their children. Working munity groups, and educators (Epstein, Coates, Salinas,
with the school, parents and caregivers can help create col- Sanders, & Simon, 1997). These groups often have differ-
laborative partnerships that support all aspects of a child’s ent concerns and issues with regards to the schools. They
achievement at school. Increased parental involvement in may have different perspectives on how best to meet the
their child’s education has many positive implications, in- needs of the children. For school improvement efforts to
cluding increased achievement levels (Epstein, 1994). De- be successful, these various interest groups have to com-
spite continued efforts by educators, achievement levels municate with each other effectively. Families, community
are not consistent across students. Students from diverse groups, and educators each have a role to play in the educa-
backgrounds—such as African American, Native Ameri- tional achievement and success of students. It is important
can, and Hispanic—typically lag behind their peers in terms that each of these constituents have a clear understanding
of achievement (Vang, 2006). Researchers have suggested of what each others’ roles entail. The importance of fami-
varied explanations to explain this disparity. One sugges- lies playing an active role in students’ education has been
tion is that the education system provides different edu- well documented (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). What is not
cational opportunities for students on the basis of their always clear is what that role should be. As a result, parents
race, gender, religion, social class, language, and ethnicity. cannot be viewed as a homogeneous group because they
As their student bodies becomes more diverse, schools face do not participate in the same ways; some have more of
greater challenges in meeting the needs of all students. a presence in the school than do others. There is a need
One challenge that schools face is ensuring the achieve- to move from this idea that parents are the same, with
ment of all students. Many factors affect the educational the same needs, and that children should be treated the
achievement of students. Some researchers have suggested same. Given that increased level of parental involvement in
that the missing link in educational equity, in terms of ed- schools and in the education of their children is positively
correlated with increasing educational achievement, it is
important to devise ways to increase parental involvement.
Address correspondence to Michelle LaRocque, 5078 Garfield Knowing that the educational achievement levels of stu-
Rd., Delray Beach, FL 33489, USA. E-mail: [email protected] dents who are from diverse backgrounds lag behind their
116 LaRocque, Kleiman, and Darling
White counterparts, it is important to know how to increase These types of involvement are often chosen by differ-
the achievement levels of these students. In this article, we ent types of parents. Factors that affect the ways in which
explore the issues affecting parental involvement, particu- families are involved (ways in which they demonstrate their
larly for parents from diverse backgrounds. In this article, investment) differ and are often based on a number of so-
we also explore what schools can do to facilitate the in- ciopolitical factors. The sociopolitical factors may include
volvement of these parents in order to ultimately positively socioeconomic status, parents’ own past experience with
affect their students’ educational achievement. schools and schooling, and so forth. Regardless of how
they are able to demonstrate their investment, the notion
Changing demographics in today’s schools that families play a very important role in creating a school
that provides a nurturing and safe environment for their
The population of our society is becoming increasingly children is becoming widely accepted (Epstein et al., 1997).
diverse (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001); therefore, the stu- Movement toward a shared understanding of this notion is
dent body in public schools is also becoming increas- demonstrated via legislative acts as well.
ingly diverse. However, teachers in these schools remain The No Child Left Behind Act has brought parental in-
predominantly White and middle class (Nieto, 2002). This volvement to the forefront. This legislation has formalized
is not a problem in itself, but such a mismatch between the parents’ right to know what is happening in schools.
student demographics and teacher demographics often cre- It means that schools have to move beyond talking about
ates situations in which cultural differences are evident and involvement to actively facilitating this involvement. How-
sometimes conflict. These cultural differences present a po- ever, teachers admit that they have little training in strate-
tential for real and perceived cultural misunderstanding. gies for working with parents. Teachers report that they do
Differences among cultural groups are varied and range not know how to use parents to effectively facilitate the
from minimal differences—such as differences in accepted education of their children, much beyond just asking them
distance for personal space—to more complex issues—such to make copies. Teachers who report they have some skills
as perceptions of authority figures or outlook on what is typically describe strategies limited to managing difficult
considered sharing behaviors. Consider the child who has parents, rather than strategies that foster more meaningful
been reared in the cultural belief that touching is frequent involvement. Likewise, even when families want to build
and welcomed, that there is no personal ownership of ma- positive relationships with the school personnel, they are
terials, and that each person has authority only over them- not always sure of how to become involved in a way that
selves; a teacher who is unfamiliar with these or similar the school personnel values. This has been particularly true
cultural beliefs may view this child as a thief who has no for African American families, Hispanic families, and those
social boundaries or respect for authority. These types of from low-income backgrounds (Barton, Drake, Perez, St.
cultural conflicts are sometimes heightened when teachers Louis & George, 2004). This uncertainty also leads to de-
interact with the parents who are from different cultural creased involvement for parents from diverse backgrounds.
backgrounds from their own and can become even more However, not knowing how to become involved is not the
challenging when we consider the critical nature and impli- only thing inhibiting parental involvement.
cations for positive parent–teacher interactions. These di- Logistical barriers often serve as an inhibitor of effec-
chotomous interactions may also affect the ways in which tive parental involvement for some parents. For some fami-
family involvement is perceived by teachers and parents. lies, competing factors such as employment issues, whereby
they may have hourly jobs with inadequate health insurance
Family involvement and other benefits, thus not allowing them to participate
in the amount and in the ways that their counterparts that
Family involvement can be generally defined as the parents’ have salaried, more stable employment can. These logisti-
or caregivers’ investment in the education of their children. cal barriers can often inhibit parental participation. Their
There are varied ways that caregivers can demonstrate their jobs limit their ability to become involved in schools dur-
adherence to this investment. In practice, family involve- ing regular school hours. Their efforts to advocate for their
ment may be demonstrated via participation in a hierarchy children lead to frustration because they are unable to par-
of activities such as the following: ticipate in school conferences and activities. For these rea-
• volunteering at school; sons, these parents are often viewed as difficult. Koonce and
• helping children with their homework; Harper (2005) found that the insights of these parents were
• attending school functions; often dismissed because they were not viewed as actively
• visiting the child’s classroom; involved in their child’s education or knowledgeable of the
• sharing expertise or experience with the class through day–to-day activities of the school. Dismissal of their in-
guest speaking; and sights further alienate these parents and tends to contribute
• taking on leadership roles in the school and participating to their withdrawal from the advocacy role. Parents as ad-
in the decision-making process. vocates for their children is a role that many parents need
Parental Involvement 117
to take on based on the educational experiences of their ing close together) the value parents have for their children’s
children. education and achievement with the values teachers have
Parental involvement is of particular importance for chil- for their students’ education and achievement might be
dren with disabilities, being served in special education, be- through role delineation.
cause these students tend to be more vulnerable to violation There are some clear differences in the roles played by
of students’ rights U.S. Department of Education, Office of the parents and the teachers. It is important that the roles
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, & Office of be clear to both parties. Roles have been categorized as par-
Special Education Programs (2004). These students are in ent focused, school focused, and partnership focused (Keyes,
greater need for their parents to serve as advocates for their 2002). These classifications may mean different things to
rights (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special parents and teachers. For parents, involvement that is par-
Education and Rehabilitative Services, & Office of Special ent focused suggests that parents have the primary respon-
Education Programs, 2004). Furthermore, given that there sibility in the education of their children; involvement that
is an overrepresentation of diverse students (including low- is school focused signifies putting primary responsibility on
income and ethnic minority) in special education services the school; and involvement that is partnership focused sig-
(Hosp & Reschly, 2004), parental involvement for these par- nifies teachers and parents working together and being col-
ticular children is also crucial. However, low-income and lectively responsible. For teachers, the parent-focused con-
ethnic minority parents are the least likely to participate in struct means empowering parents by giving them teaching
the school of their child (Desimone, 2001). These students roles. In contrast, the school-focused approach emphasizes
that need the most participation are the ones who are least effective separation of home and school. This separation
likely to have parents advocating for them. In addition to has been the most prevalent approach. However, more re-
the previously described logistical barriers, there may also cently, the partnership-focused approach, in which family
be barriers to effective participation on the basis of the and school work together cooperatively, has developed.
cultural viewpoint of some of these families who are from
diverse backgrounds. For example, teachers may be viewed
as the expert with specialized skills, and questioning them What schools need to know
may be considered disrespectful. It is important, therefore,
for educators to develop strategies for families to advo- Parental involvement has been found to be beneficial to
cate effectively for their children’s needs. To allay the effect students’ academic success (Epstein, 1994, Hiatt-Michael,
of these differing viewpoints, ongoing communication can 2001). Higher levels of parental involvement has been as-
help build trust between parents and professionals. For ex- sociated with better student attendance, higher math and
ample, rather than follow strict guidelines of who can be reading scores, higher graduation rates, and less grade re-
an advocate, teachers can gain insight on who the family tention. Parental involvement has also been found to be
considers relevant by paying attention to the composition important for the quality of education the students re-
of the child’s advocate group. This is helpful knowledge ceive beyond just achievement. It has been associated with
in ongoing interactions with families. In working with stu- nonacademic outcomes such as parent and student satis-
dents with a disability or any other students in the general faction with school and fewer discipline problems (Hiatt-
classroom, cultural considerations should be taken into ac- Michael) as well as positive attitudes and more effective
count. Parents want the best for their children; however, programs and schools (Lewis, 1993). Parental involvement
they are sometimes not able to articulate this value on the has benefits for families too; they become better informed
basis of their cultural mores or norms. about teachers’ objectives and the needs of their children.
Even though the value of parental participation is widely They develop more positive attitudes toward the teachers.
accepted (Garcia, 2002), parental involvement is not easy Furthermore, increased involvement has been associated
to promote or maintain. This has become even more chal- with parents developing higher educational aspirations for
lenging as the parents represent a greater diversity of cul- their children. They even begin to seek additional education
tures. This diversity in families’ cultural backgrounds adds for themselves (Peña, 2001). Parental involvement produces
to the complexity of the parent–teacher relationship. The benefits for teachers too; teachers gain insights on how to
basic goal is to have a good parent–teacher relationship better meet the needs of their students. Information from
from which positive student outcomes will flow. There is a parents can help teachers plan activities and set appro-
wide spectrum of what constitutes a good relationship. It priate goal for students. Two-way communication allows
ranges from “schools as extended family” to “family meet- parents and teachers to be on the same page regarding the
ing school expectations efficiently while school effectively child’s educational progress. It may be that some helpful
educates the child with no excessive demands on the fam- activities are better suited for home than school. It be-
ily.” Schools and parents need to have a shared notion of comes important that parents and teachers have a common
what constitutes a good relationship. One way to move to- understanding. Schools that have comprehensive parental
ward a shared notion of understanding what constitutes a involvement programs tend to be more effective than those
good relationship and toward matching (or at least bring- without because it pertains to student achievement and
118 LaRocque, Kleiman, and Darling
overall quality. Besides providing valuable resources, such One would argue that this type of involvement is more easily
programs contribute to a better overall school–community quantifiable, given that the face-to face interaction between
relation. parents and teachers is evident. It may be more helpful to
Overstreet, Devine, Bevans, and Efreom (2005) classi- parents if teachers request specific forms of involvement, by
fied parental involvement into three types: school involve- describing exactly what parental expectations are. In doing
ment, cognitive-intellectual involvement, and personal in- so, teachers should be attentive to logistical barriers and
volvement. School involvement includes activities that take perhaps cultural considerations when conceptualizing the
place at school and school-related activities that take place varied ways in which parents can become involved. Studies
at home such as providing homework help. Cognitive- have shown that parents more often respond to specific
intellectual involvement refers to exposure to intellectually requests from teachers (Fields-Smith, 2005). As mentioned
stimulating activities that parents engage in with their chil- earlier in this article, teachers are sometimes not able to
dren such as reading together. Personal involvement is about devise these specific requests of parents for involvement.
knowing what is going on with the child at school and what Not knowing on the teacher’s part may lead to some fear
the child is working on at school. of encouraging parents to participate in the schools.
In a study examining these three types of involvement, Teachers should learn not to fear parental involvement.
Overstreet et al. (2005) found that school involvement was They should operate on the belief that parents are a valu-
the most salient type of involvement. The findings indi- able resource with powerful knowledge that can be used to
cated that for the low-income African American families help students succeed. This can come from building mutual
studied, school involvement has a stronger association trust between parents and teachers. Teachers should find a
with academic outcomes than did at-home involvement. systematic way to involve parents. Fear and mistrust are
This piece of information is significant when considering barriers arising from ignorance and lack of relationships.
that some studies (e.g., Eccles & Harold, 1996) show The importance of meeting with parents cannot be overem-
African American parents having greater involvement in phasized, and yet the number of parents reporting that they
home-based activities. In Overstreet et al.’s study, the most have never met their children’s teachers informally is stag-
important factors in encouraging involvement were school gering. In a survey conducted by Epstein (1994), 67% of the
practices designed to involve parents. This highlights the teachers stated that parents had never met their children’s
importance of schools initiating family–school contact teachers informally.
and making an effort to encourage parental involvement Schools and teachers need to address emotional barriers,
with families in general and particularly families who are physical barriers, and cultural differences to increase parent
from diverse backgrounds. involvement for all families, and in particular families who
are from diverse backgrounds.

What can schools do

Addressing emotional barriers
Teacher attitudes and actions will greatly influence how Historically, there are groups of people who have felt ex-
all parents perceive schools interest in their families and cluded from the education system. This is especially ev-
their relation with the school. Teachers often perceive par- ident in the case of parents who are from diverse back-
ents from diverse backgrounds as uninvolved and disin- grounds (Nieto, 2002). They might not have been successful
terested (Carlisle, Stanley, & Kemple, 2006; Floyd, 2005). in school themselves. They may have a lingering mistrust for
Such perceptions can be widely off the mark. For example, the system. The teacher can play a vital role in expediting
historically, African American parents pursued education the process of building back the trust of these families. Ad-
for their children when Caucasian leaders ignored the edu- dressing these emotional barriers can present a challenge.
cation of their children. There were several instances when Taking the time to learn the acceptable way to address the
former slaves built schools for their children indicating how parents (e.g., using first names vs. “mister” or “missus”) can
much they valued the acquisition of knowledge. The fam- go a long way in showing parents that they are respected.
ily involvement may be categorized as less direct in that Embracing blended or nontraditional family structures is
the parents were not actually in the school; however, they also necessary. Demonstrating that the parent input is given
constantly interacted informally with teachers (e.g., at the a high priority is a step in the right direction. For example,
grocery store), and they participated in activities at home. teachers could encourage parents to share their expecta-
There was trust and mutual respect between home and tions of the teacher just as the teacher shares expectations
school. of the students and their families. With regular interactions
It would appear that in many instances, the trust has and the teacher’s encouragement, parents can begin to feel
been lost. Parents may be interested and committed to the more comfortable and confident in the school setting.
education of their children, but their roles and efforts may Some parents do not feel adequate to the task of sup-
not be as apparent. Where historically their role was outside porting their children because of their own low level of
the school, teachers now expect more direct participation. education. Such parents should be reassured that they are
Parental Involvement 119
not expected to understand the content to support their in which language barriers exist. To address the difficulty
child’s education. The support can come in the form of some families face with getting to the school the Northrop
nonacademic tasks such as providing a regular place and High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, introduced neighbor-
time to complete homework, ensuring that the child com- hood meetings called “On Your Turf” that held meetings
pletes homework, or contacting the teacher if the child in neighborhood homes.
consistently seems to struggle with homework.
Teachers are better placed to present a variety of ways
Addressing physical barriers
in which parents can participate. It is important to create a
sense of community and to understand family challenges. In By addressing physical barriers, schools can facilitate par-
addition to providing several options to participate, clear ents being able to physically attend school activities. It may
job descriptions for each task go a long way to alleviate be as simple as scheduling parent–teacher conferences to
the fear of not knowing what to do. Teachers can invite accommodate the schedules of the family. If teachers pro-
those with particular knowledge and experience to come vide a variety of meeting times, there is a greater likelihood
into the classroom and share this with students. To com- that parents will find a time that suits their schedules or
municate their willingness to have parental involvement, if schools provide childcare or suggest alternate locations
teachers should both implicitly and explicitly ask parents for meetings, those parents for whom these types of issues
to participate in the school environment. Parents are much constitute barriers will be better positioned to being able
more likely to become involved when they feel welcomed to physically attend and meet with teachers. Such efforts
and valued. Some schools have activities that foster these can be time consuming and challenging but worthwhile.
beliefs, such as a reading day in the library where parents Machen, Wilson, and Notar (2005) found that efforts to
can share their favorite childhood book. To be more inclu- involve parents paid off. A program put in place to increase
sive, this can be extended to include a favorite childhood parental involvement for first-grade students resulted in
story because not all parents will have a favorite book or increased parental participation to levels more than 94%.
may be hesitant to read for an audience. They found that parents’ lack of knowledge in the subject
did not hinder interest. When barriers related to trans-
portation and babysitting were addressed, these first-grade
Addressing language barriers
students’ parents responded positively.
In a number of instances, parents feel intimidated by the For school-based activities, school buses can be used to
professional language used in school. This is even more pick up parents before meetings and return them to bus
evident when students have disabilities. The language can stops near their homes. This was the case for Back to School
appear so academic, scientific, or abstract that it can be ex- Night at one school (Peña, 2001). In this instance, parent
perienced as impersonal. This may cause parents to with- involvement was greatly increased. For any parental in-
draw, which can be misconstrued as lack of care. It is up to volvement program to be effective, school should consider
the teacher to help the parents feel needed by the way he cultural and economic differences of families. To address
or she interacts with the family. To facilitate communica- some of the unique challenges faced by these families, such
tion, teachers can use translators. Whenever possible, these as not being able to physically attend school functions,
should be people with whom the families are confident. teachers and schools can ensure that some parents do not
However, teachers and schools should avoid the pitfall of feel left out by providing opportunities for these parents
using use children as interpreters for their parents; this prac- to participate from home. Some solutions require changes
tice upsets the balance and authority in the parent–child in policies such as tax incentives aimed at encouraging
relationship. As an alternative, other parents who speak parental involvement. One type of tax incentive might en-
the same language can be of assistance in this capacity. courage employers to offer flexible work schedules, thereby
Some other simple steps include using a variety of means allowing parents who otherwise would not have been able,
of communication when communicating with parents, such to participate in activities that require them to be present.
as translating newsletters or written communication, using Obviously, this is not something over which teachers have
pictures, or videos. In the case of students with disabilities a lot of control. Such a solution would require commu-
in which the language can be technical, families may find it nity involvement and advocacy. Teachers can certainly be
helpful if schools provide a glossary of the technical terms advocates for such involvement if they can articulate the
in a simplified format. In addition, oral communication benefit to be gained by students. Such solutions are helpful
(in person or by phone) may be preferred to written com- in facilitating school-based participation.
munication; it allows for immediate clarification in case of
misunderstanding. For parental involvement programs to
Addressing cultural differences
be effective, school should consider cultural and economic
differences of families. It is important to understand dif- Understanding the families can be a tool in dissuading
ferent family structures. For example, it may be necessary teachers from making erroneous assumptions. Parents who
to acknowledge the need for bilingual advocacy in schools have less of a presence in the school care about their
120 LaRocque, Kleiman, and Darling
children as much as parents whose presence is more read- experiences as a launch pad for new learning. Being cultur-
ily observed. As previously stated, the studies show dif- ally competent does not necessarily mean changing what a
ferences in levels of parental involvement on the basis of parent does to suit his or her child, but it does mean under-
ethnic background. This, however, does not translate into standing the role culture plays in students’ learning and in
different levels of devotion to their children. What may dif- interactions with the families. It provides an opportunity
fer is the way in which parents express their devotion. This to address areas of incompatibility between family systems
should not come as a surprise because all people are a prod- and school. When the teacher is culturally aware, the con-
uct of their culture. In the need to interact with each other, flict between systems is minimized, and there is formulation
it is important to demonstrate cultural reciprocity. This in- of strategies to work around differences.
volves a dynamic process in which teachers and families Bronfenbrenner’s (1989) ecological theory is helpful in
exchange knowledge, values, and perspectives of their dif- recognizing the complexity of factors that impact parental
ferent cultural backgrounds. For an authentic exchange to involvement. In addition to individual parent character-
take place, there should be mutual respect. More often than istics, there are characteristics of the child as well as the
not, parents and teachers have the same goal for the child: school and community norms and cultural beliefs. As
academic success. In their literacy program, Nistler and school administrators think about programs to increase
Maiers (2000) found that although the families highlighted parental involvement, they should start with an explicit pol-
several barriers to their participation in the program, none icy that legitimizes the importance of parental involvement
lacked the desire to participate. What can affect parents’ de- (Plevyak, 2003). There are many different parties engaged
sire to participate is being involved in misunderstandings in forming a successful parental involvement program. This
between them and the schools or blaring mismatch between makes it difficult to place all responsibility in one party.
the cultural beliefs of teachers/schools and their own. Each has a role to play to encourage greater participation.
Misunderstandings can be intensified when cultural dif- Consider the following examples:
ferences relate to students with disabilities. Quite often
• School administrators can facilitate the development of
when families do not respond in a manner the teacher
a parental involvement committee.
considers rational, there is a temptation to conclude that
• Teachers can receive professional development in com-
they are in denial. An implication of this (perhaps erro-
munication skills necessary to work with families.
neous) conclusion is to view the perspective of the family
• Colleges of education can include the teaching of how
as a wrong perspective to have. It would be more produc-
educators can successfully include parents in education.
tive to respectfully seek reasons for the disagreement. This
• Support networks can provide the forum for parents to
process of seeking reasons is predicated on cultural under-
motivate each other.
standing. In the case of a child with a disability, the teacher
• Students can play a role in getting their parents excited
might have physical etiological interpretations and expla-
about school happenings.
nations for the child’s disability; however, the family may
• Businesses and community organizations can provide
have spiritual etiological interpretations and explanations
financial and service support so that parents, teachers
for their child’s condition. Kalyanpur and Harry (1997) de-
and students can spend time together. Through two-way
scribed an example of such a case in their discussion of a
communication, the roles and expectations can become
Hmong family whose child had club feet. In the family’s
clearer.
culture, this condition was viewed as a blessing, thus no
need to rectify the condition. However, the teacher inter- Schools should not fear parental involvement. Collabo-
preted the family’s opinion as something close to parental ration between home and school can only help the students.
neglect (Kalyanpur & Harry). Parents have a nuanced inti- It is a reciprocal process in which each party should listen
mate knowledge of their children; therefore, what they have to understand the other’s perspective. By showing parents
to offer can provide teachers and schools with valuable that their voice matter, the schools empower them. Infor-
insights. Acknowledging family members’ expertise helps mation from parents can help teachers develop successful
them feel valued as partners in the education of their child. strategies for working with all students.
Having some understanding of families’ visible and invisi- Ramirez (2003) reported that for Latino parents, the per-
ble cultural nuances can go a long way in helping schools ception was that teachers had lower expectation for their
find something of value in these families. Visible cultural children. The parents provided examples of when their chil-
nuances include facets such as language or clothing; invis- dren had been recommended for special education when
ible culture includes facets such as communication style, they did not need it or when they had been denied the
status, or imbedded values. It is important for the families opportunity to enter an honors course when they were
and teachers to gain an understanding of the mutual benefit sufficiently able. An exasperated parent stated that all she
of parental involvement in the students’ education and its wanted was for her child to succeed in school and have
impact on teacher expectations and instructional practices. a better life. However, when she asked a teacher to write
Culture shapes behavior and is the filter through which down homework assignments for her so she could support
the world is viewed. Teachers can use culture and students’ her child at home, the teacher refused. She shared how the
Parental Involvement 121
school personnel made her feel stupid because of her trou- family involvement, diversity, and inclusion of young children with spe-
ble with English. It is essential that teachers examine their cial needs.
attitudes to ensure that as much as possible their actions are
not driven by stereotypes and preconceived notions about
the students and their parents. References
Conclusion Barton, A. C., Drake, C., Perez, J. G., St. Louis, K., & George, M. (2004).
Ecologies of parental engagement in urban education. Educational
Researcher, 33(4), 3–12.
There is a clear need to move from the idea that parents Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989). Ecological systems theory. Annals of Child
are the same, with the same needs and that children should Development, 6, 18–24.
be treated the same. This may be a result assuming fairness Carlisle, E., Stanley, L., & Kemple, K. M. (2005). Opening doors: Under-
and sameness are synonyms. Such an approach misses the standing school and family influences on family involvement. Early
complexity of needs and roles that students and parents Childhood Education Journal, 33, 155–162.
Colombo, M. W. (2006). Building school partnerships with culturally
who are from diverse backgrounds play in the education and linguistically diverse families. Phi Delta Kappan, 2, 314–318.
process. It also makes it very easy to miss the barriers to Desimone, L. (2001). Linking parent involvement with student achieve-
participation that may exist for these families. There is no ment: Do race and income matter? Washington, DC: American In-
one best way for parental involvement. School systems stitutes for Research.
should strive to reflect the full spectrum of the plurality Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1996). Family involvement in children’s
and adolescents’ schooling. In A. Booth & J. F. Dunn (Eds.),
of the United States to accommodate ethnically and Family–school links: How do they affect educational outcomes? (pp.
racially diverse families and children. Parents base their 3–34). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
participation on a variety of factors such as comfort level, Epstein, J. L. (1994). Theory to practice: Schools and family partnerships
knowledge, self confidence, motivation, and language lead to school improvement and student success. In C. L. Fagnano
skills. Teachers should strive to make involvement familiar & B. Z. Werber (Eds.), School, family, and community interaction: A
view from the firing lines (pp. 39–52). Boulder, CO: Westview.
and more meaningful for parents. This will encourage Epstein, J. L., Coates, L., Salinas, K. C., Sanders, M. G., & Simon, B. S.
parent participation. To enable parents to grow in their (1997). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook
ability to help their children get the best education possible, for action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
encouraging parental involvement has to be viewed as a Fields-Smith, C. (2005). African American parents before and after
process rather than a one-time event. Teachers and schools Brown. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 20, 129–135.
Floyd, L. (1998). Joining hands: A parental involvement program. Urban
need to get to know the community in order to improve un- Education, 33, 123–135.
derstanding and attitude between themselves and parents. Garcia, E. (2002). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting
They need to understand the needs and opportunities of the challenge (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
the families they serve. The structure within which schools Henderson, A., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact
operate may need to change as opposed to doing more of school, family, and community connections on student achievement.
Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
of the same. Trying to change within the same structure Hiatt-Michael, D. B. (2001). Schools as learning communities: A vision
may not lead to the desired results of greater parental for organic school reform. School Community Journal, 11, 93–112.
involvement. For instance, it is clear that there is need for Hosp, J., & Reschly, D. (2004). Disproportionate representation
greater communication but this is a great responsibility of minority students in special education: Academic, eco-
for the already busy teacher. Some necessary adjustment nomic, and demographic predictors. Exceptional Children, 70,
185–200.
may include working with one’s team to brainstorm Kalyanpur, M., & Harry, B. (1997). A posture of reciprocity: A practical
ways to share administrative duties and explicitly making approach to collaboration between professionals and parents of
communication a priority. Teachers can request in-service culturally diverse backgrounds. Journal of Child and Family Studies,
training that reflects this focus so that sessions on how to 6, 487–509.
communicate with all types of families can be included. Keyes, C. R. (2002). A way of thinking about parent/teacher partnerships
for teachers. International Journal of Early Years Education, 10,
177–191.
Author notes Koonce, D. A., & Harper Jr., W. (2005). Engaging African American
parents in the schools: A community-based consultation model.
Michelle LaRocque is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic Uni- Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 16(1–2),
versity. Her areas of research interests are homeschool collaboration, 55–74.
preschool and elementary education, the prevention and treatment of Lewis, M. C. (1993). Beyond barriers: Involving Hispanic families in the ed-
emotional and behavioral disorders, early childhood inclusion, and teach- ucation process. Washington, DC: National Committee for Citizens
ing diverse children. in Education.
Machen, S. M., Wilson, J. D., & Notar, C. E. (2005). Parental involvement
Ira Kleiman is a high school principal at Bradford Academy in Southfield, in the classroom. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32, 13–16.
Michigan. His areas of research interests are family involvement, science Nieto, S. (2002). Language, culture, and teaching: Critical perspectives for
education, and closing the achievement gap for diverse students. a new century. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Nistler, R. J., & Maiers, A. (2000). Stopping the silence: Hearing parents’
Sharon M. Darling is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic Univer- voices in an urban first grade family literacy program. The Reading
sity. Her areas of research interests are preschool and primary education, Teacher, 53, 670–680.
122 LaRocque, Kleiman, and Darling
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 20 U.S.C. §6319 (2008). U.S. Census Bureau (2004). 2000 Census of population and housing: Pop-
Overstreet, S., Devine, J., Bevans, K., & Efreom, Y. (2005). Predicting ulation and housing unit counts, PHC-3-1, United States summary.
parental involvement in children’s schooling within an economically Washington, DC: Author.
disadvantaged African American sample. Psychology in the Schools, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Reha-
42, 101–111. bilitative Services, & Office of Special Education Programs (2004).
Peña, D. C. (2001). Parental involvement: Influencing factors and impli- Twenty-sixth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the
cations. Journal of Educational Research, 94, 42–54. Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Vol. 1). Washington,
Plevyak, L. H. (2003). Parent involvement in education: Who decides? DC: Author.
Education Digest, 1, 32–38. Vang, C. (2006). Minority parents should know more about school cul-
Ramirez, A. Y. F. (2003). Dismay and disappointment: Parental involve- ture and its impact on their children’s education. Multicultural Ed-
ment of Latino immigrant parents. Urban Review, 35, 93–110. ucation, 4, 20–26.
Copyright of Preventing School Failure is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be
copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.