Promoting Latino Parent Involvement in Title I Schools

• In Event: Responding to the Challenges of Disadvantaged Populations: Engaging Families to Promote School Success

Abstract

Objectives

This paper explores the use of open-enrollment, after-school, multi-family groups to increase rates of parent involvement at 26 Title I schools serving high proportions of low-income, minority students.


Perspectives

Over 50,000 U.S. schools receive Title I funds to support the education of disadvantaged students. Schools are required to allocate 1% of their Title I budgets towards parent involvement, yet attendance in schools with high proportions of disadvantaged families are low (Carey, Lewis, & Farris, 1998). A three-year study of one southwestern school district shows rates of parent participation at Title I school-wide events (open houses and family math and reading events) ranging from 0-15%. On average across the district, 2.8% of children had a parent who attended these events (Paredes, 2011). These percentages fall short of the goals of Title I, adopted due to the importance of parent involvement for children’s school success (U.S. Department of Education, 2004).

To increase rates of parent involvement, an evidence-based parenting program, Families and Schools Together (FAST), was adapted for Title I schools. FAST aims to empower parents and build relationships within and across families and with schools and has a track record of successfully engaging low-income parents (McDonald et al., 2006). Parents of all first graders were invited to join 8 weekly sessions of school-wide, multi-family groups. Culturally representative teams of professionals and parents from the school coached parents to (a) lead “learning readiness” family games involving turn taking, listening to instructions, answering questions, and obeying small requests; (b) lead parent support groups; and (c) practice playing responsively with their first graders.

Data

In each of two southwestern cities, 13 schools hosted the school-wide FAST parent involvement events for all first graders. Attendance data were recorded at each session, and background data were collected on surveys completed by parents. About 77% of participating students were of Latino origin.

Methods

Descriptive accounts of participation rates provide information about parent engagement. Multilevel models of parents within schools explore which parents were most likely to attend FAST and with what frequency.

Results

Direct outreach to parents of all first graders resulted in 60% agreeing to participate in the study. In FAST schools, 73% of children who consented had at least one parent attend at least one FAST session, and of these 25% had both parents come. Moreover, 70% of the parents who attended once came back at least once more, for an average of 2.8 sessions per family. Of the total population of 2,657 first graders, 45% of families came to FAST 4,403 times.

Further analyses revealed that attendance at FAST parent involvement events varied significantly across the two cities. Despite the absence of significant differences by gender or race/ethnicity of the child or by language minority status, Latino immigrants’ attendance was significantly higher than that of native-born parents.

Significance

School-wide FAST adapted to promote universal parent involvement, with a significant outreach component and culturally representative teams, can engage low-income minority parents at higher levels than may be common for Title I schools.

Authors

• Hannah K. Miller, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Lynn McDonald, Middlesex University