Same Beliefs, Different Techniques: How Principals in High-Poverty Schools Manage "Difficult" Parents

• In Event: 54.080 - Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: 54.080-21 - Managing Relationships Between Schools, Families, and the Justice System

Abstract

How do educators’ expectations for parent behavior translate into practices for managing parents from non-dominant groups? We analyze 66 interviews and 71 hours of field observation taken from a longitudinal study of 26 principals in high-poverty schools. Principals’ expectations for parents were universally narrow and reflected a middle-class bias. However, principals leveraged different tools for managing parents who did not comply with their expectations. Some principals banned confrontational parents from school premises; others welcomed them. Principals also used different tools to address parents’ perceived failure to support children’s academic progress. We conclude that, while a middle-class bias may influence how principals construct legitimate parent involvement, it does not predict a particular set of strategies for managing parents who defy expectations.

Authors

• Simone Ispa-Landa, Northwestern University

• Jordan Conwell, University of Wisconsin-Madison