Is Parental Involvement Enough? Educational Challenges and Parent Intervention Tactics in Low-Income Predominantly Latinx Schools

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Seventeen
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Latina/o/x Parent Engagement and Youth Outcomes (Table 4)

Abstract

The prevailing view on parental involvement is that parents in low-income minoritized communities are less present in school settings and that if schools in these communities did a better job engaging parents, students’ academic achievement would improve. In this study, we examine these assumptions. Drawing on interviews of families attending Title I predominantly Latinx elementary schools, we find that parents are involved in schools in myriad ways, driven partly by numerous educational challenges their children face. However, schools often rebuffed parents’ intervention efforts, and successful interventions often required uncommon levels of resources and support. Our findings raise doubts about the effectiveness of interventions seeking to increase involvement to improve children’s educational outcomes without changing the structure of schooling.

Authors

• David Enrique Rangel, Brown University
  Presenting Author

• Hannah Severyns, Brown University
  Presenting Author