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The parent voice: an exploratory study to understand Latino parent involvement in schools

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The parent voice: an exploratory study to understand Latino parent involvement in schools

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Content LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT

1

The Parent Voice: An Exploratory Study to Understand Latino Parent Involvement in Schools
by

Doramanda Irias Higuchi

___________________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2017

Copyright 2017 Doramanda Irias Higuchi
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 2
DEDICATION
To Sophia, Olivia and Mia.
You are my inspiration.

To baby Eva, the newest member of our family.
Welcome.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a dissertation is like watching good movie, it takes you on a rollercoaster of
emotions; it makes you laugh and cry; sometimes, at the same time. During this arduous
learning process I shed tears of desperation and tears of joy as my work came to fruition. None
of this would have been possible without the support of my committee, family, friends and
colleagues.
 Thank you Dr. Julie Slayton, Committee Chair, for your time, guidance and unconditional
support. You always pushed my thinking beyond what I thought was possible. I am honored
to have been your student. To my committee members: Dr. Kimberly Hirabayashi and Dr.
Ravneet Tiwana for your willingness to serve in my committee and invaluable feedback.
 Thank you to the parents in this study who were so trusting and open to share their thoughts,
beliefs and values with me.
 To my school district who was willing to let me to conduct this study. It is my hope that my
findings and recommendations help build partnerships with parents for improved student
achievement.
 To my mentor Dr. Rosalinda Lugo for believing that I could achieve my goals and for
checking up on me to make sure I stayed on track. I am appreciative of Dr. Gustavo Ortiz,
Tony Gonzalez, and Al Vega for supporting this process. To my professional colleagues
who have become family: Gema and Manuel. To MPL Chicas: Aleta, Anna, Lupe, and
Veronica, you are my rock! Thank you for always taking care of business. To LaMotte
Explorers for being the best, always. Stay healthy, friendly and smart.
 Congratulations to the inaugural OCL cohort – We did it! I am extremely grateful to my life
lines, always just a phone call, text or email away: Marianne, Sandy, and Eric – I’m so glad
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 4
we stuck to it together. Accountability – it works! Thank you for being there to listen, to
bounce back ideas and for being motivating. A special thank you to Victor and Kyle for your
feedback.
 Last, but not least, to my family: My husband Dean who spent a lot of quality time with the
girls while I studied and wrote. Thank you for your continued support during this process
and standing by me every step of the way. A mi Mami – por la educación que me dió, por
siempre estar pendiente y ser muy cariñosa. A Mama Julia, quien siempre estará en mi
corazón. To my sister Carolina for her productive input and for always being willing to read
my work. To Sophia, Olivia and Mia who couldn't wait for me to finish. I love you so
much! I know that I will not be the only one in the family with a doctorate. I can’t wait to
see you complete yours.
I could not have gone on this rollercoaster ride without you. ¡Mil veces gracias!
FIGHT ON!

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 5
Table of Contents
DEDICATION................................................................................................................................2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................3
LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................7
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................8
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................10
Organizational Context and Mission ....................................................................................11
Organizational Performance Goal .........................................................................................11
Related Literature..................................................................................................................13
Importance of Addressing the Problem ................................................................................15
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals .........................................................................................16
Stakeholder Group for the Study ..........................................................................................17
Purpose of Project and Questions .........................................................................................18
Methodological Framework ..................................................................................................19
Organization of Project .........................................................................................................19
Definition of Terms...............................................................................................................19
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................21
Parent Involvement: Culture Differences, Parent Perceptions and Their Role ....................21
Cultural Differences ....................................................................................................21
Latino Parents’ Perceptions of Schools and Their Role .............................................23
The Voice of the Immigrant Parent ......................................................................................24
Clark and Estes Conceptual Framework ...............................................................................25
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences ..................................26
Knowledge and Skills .................................................................................................26
Motivation ...................................................................................................................30
Changing Culture and Climate in the Organization ..............................................................33
Cultural Change Theory ..............................................................................................33
Interactive Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................36
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................40
Research Question ................................................................................................................40
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 6
Participating Stakeholders ....................................................................................................40
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale.................................................................41
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale ........................................42
Data Collection and Instrumentation ....................................................................................44
Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................45
Credibility and Trustworthiness ............................................................................................47
Ethics.....................................................................................................................................50
Limitations and Delimitations ...............................................................................................52
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................53
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ..................................................................................................54
Participating Parents .............................................................................................................54
Finding 1: Division of Labor ................................................................................................57
Finding 2: The Self-Efficacy Continuum .............................................................................63
Theme 1: Parent Involvement through Homework ....................................................65
Theme 2: Types of Interactions with Child ................................................................68
Theme 3: Parent Involvement with School .................................................................71
Finding 3: Redefining the Parent Role..................................................................................79
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................82
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........84
Summary of Findings ............................................................................................................86
Implications and Recommendations for Practice .................................................................87
Building Collaborative Partnerships through Cultural Competence ..........................87
Implications and Recommendations for Policy ....................................................................91
Building Self-Efficacy through Organizational and Cultural Change ........................91
Building Knowledge and Skills through Mutual Learning .........................................95
Implications and Recommendations for Research ................................................................96
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................97
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................100
APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ...........................................................................113
APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT ................................................................................124
APPENDIX C: RECRUITMENT SCRIPT ............................................................................132
APPENDIX D: SCREENER DOCUMENT ............................................................................134
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goal p. 16
Table 2. Participating Parents p. 54
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Prior to the Study p. 38
Figure 2. Conceptual Framework after the Study p. 39

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 9
Abstract
This was an exploratory study to understand Latino parent involvement in schools. Using
Clark and Estes (2008) conceptual framework the parents’ perceptions of their knowledge,
motivation and organizational elements that support and impede parent involvement at home and
at school were explored. Interviews with 10 Latino parents in a low socio-economic school were
conducted and findings emerged related to their interactions with the children and the school.
Latino parents believed in a division of labor where the school was responsible for teaching and
parents were responsible for educación. The next finding noted that the parental self-efficacy
was on a continuum that influenced the way parents were involved with their children and with
the school. The school reinforced the division of labor by having parents involved in non-
academic activities or making decisions on their behalf. The last finding demonstrated that
parents took advantage of the resources at school in order to improve their interactions with the
school. The implications of this study are that both the parents and the school need to build
cultural competence in order to build collaborative partnerships. The recommendations are to
build cultural competence by providing professional development to educators focusing on
culturally relevant pedagogy and engaging in self-reflection. It is recommended that the role of
the school shift so that it is a learner along with the parent and mutual learning takes place
through the use of “funds of knowledge” approach. Another recommendation is to create parent
leadership programs that empower parents to be equal partners in the decision-making process
and engage parents in innovative and meaningful ways.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
The problem of practice that was addressed in this study was the low parental
involvement of Latino parents in low socio-economic schools. When compared to White
parents, Latino parents are less likely to participate in a school related event and/or volunteer in
school (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012). Through survey reports
collected from parents, the NCES (2012) reported that the participation rate of White parents
volunteering in a K-12 grade school was 54% compared to 31% of Latino parents. Similarly,
80% of White parents participated in a school event and 65% for Latino parents (NCES, 2012).
The volunteer rate of White parents was nearly 25% higher than Latino parents and the
participation rate in a school event was 15% higher even when controlling for socio-economic
status (NCES, 2012).
According to Smith (2006), students with low income status experience fewer academic
benefits or do not perform academically well when their parents are not very involved. Some of
the causes of low parental involvement have been attributed to time-poverty, lack of awareness
of school policies or school events and/or lack of financial resources (Williams & Sanchez,
2011). In addition, when low-socio economic schools face low parental involvement, the
students are at risk of dropping out of high school, causing an impact on welfare costs for
society, which could result in higher crime rates, loss of tax revenue and higher spending on
public assistance (Tyler & Lofstrom, 2009). Though there are substantial benefits to parental
involvement, such as decreasing the achievement gap between White and disadvantaged students
(Jeynes, 2007), the low parental involvement rate of Latino parents poses a problem because by
not being involved, they are denying those benefits to their children, Latino students. This
dissertation explored the parents’ perspective and understandings of their roles and participation
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 11
in their child’s academic life. It also explored the parents’ perspective regarding the strategies
the school is taking to foster parental involvement of Latino parents, and evaluated how parents’
knowledge and skills, motivational and the organizational factors affect their involvement.
Organizational Context and Mission
Central Elementary School was a first through fifth grade elementary school. The
median household income was $31,559 dollars (Los Angeles Times, 2008). Central Elementary
School had a Title I ranking of 93.18% (Los Angeles Unified School District [LAUSD], 2015),
representing the percentage of families with a low income status. The demographics of the
school included a student population of 975 students of which 543 were English Language
Learners (California Department of Education, 2015). The Enrollment by Ethnicity 2015-2016
report in the California Department of Education reflected that it was comprised of 889 Latino
students, 60 African Americans, 6 White. There were 44 teachers at the school of which 43 were
fully credentialed (LAUSD, 2014).
The mission for Central Elementary School was the following:
Central Elementary School is a Professional Learning Community committed to
providing a safe and engaging environment where every student is expected to perform to
their full potential both academically and socially. As professionals we are committed to
creating clear academic focus for all stakeholders” (Central Elementary, n.d.).
Organization Performance Goal
In order to develop the performance goal, data results in the School Experience Survey
were reviewed as well as the district’s strategic plan. The School Experience Survey was
provided to parents, students, teachers, and staff annually to gain input on climate, engagement,
and the safety of the school. The survey addressed five goals: graduation rates, proficiency for
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 12
all, attendance, parent and community engagement, and school safety (LAUSD, 2012). The
School Report Card grouped the results of the School Experience Survey into one document
(LAUSD, 2014). The report card was issued annually to parents reflecting and illustrating the
progress the school had made toward the five goals named above.
In 2013-2014, 20% of the parents participated in the School Experience Survey (LAUSD,
2015c). In the year 2014-2015, the participation rate increased to 32% (LAUSD, 2015b). The
parents were surveyed about how welcomed they felt at the school. The results demonstrated
that 83% of the parents who responded to the survey felt welcomed to participate; a 6% decrease
from the previous year (LAUSD, 2015b). There was also a 3% decrease of the parents who felt
the school encouraged them to participate (LAUSD, 2015b; LAUSD 2015c). Seventy-seven
percent of the parents felt that they were partners in decisions made about their child, a 9%
decrease from the previous year (LAUSD, 2015b; LAUSD, 2015c). There was a 20% decrease
in parents who felt the school was providing useful resources to help support their child’s
education (LAUSD, 2015b; LAUSD, 2015c). Though a 12% increase is a substantial increase in
the participation rate, the overall participation rate is still low at 32%. Having participation rates
as a low as 20% and 32% makes it difficult to generalize the results and conclude that all parents
felt the way they responded. In addition, the results cannot be generalized to the whole school
because each year a different group of parents takes the survey with a culminating class leaving
and a new first grade class entering. The data provided in the School Experience Survey
provided insight to parents’ perceptions on the school’s efforts to getting parents involved but
one cannot firmly declare a decrease nor generalize the survey sample to the school population.
There were three key initiatives delineated in the Strategic Plan that targeted Parent,
Community and Student Engagement aimed to reach the district’s goal of 100% graduation:
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 13
1. Welcoming and Engaging Environment
2. Build Capacity to Engage
3. Promote Collaboration between the District, Schools and Community Partners
(LAUSD, 2017)

The first initiative was the one closest aligned to creating collaborative partnerships as it gears to
“Provide high levels of customer service. Invite students, families and the community to
participate as equal partners in creating a nurturing educational environment. Increase
opportunities for students and parents to partner with their schools and the District to lead
and make decisions” (LAUSD, 2017, p. 13).
The second initiative was related to building capacity by providing parents opportunities to
support education at home and at school. The third initiative focused on building partnerships
with the community in order to provide supports for families and students.
Using both the School Experience Survey and the Key Initiatives, the organizational goal
focuses on increasing collaborative partnerships between home and school. The items in the
School Experience Survey connected to this initiative was “I am a partner with this school in
decisions made about my child’s education and “The school encourages me to participate in
organized parent groups.” The performance goal for Central Elementary School was to increase
parent involvement by encouraging parents to participate in organized parent groups. The goal
was measured by the participation rates in the School Experience Survey responses to the
aforementioned items.
Related Literature
In the literature, parental involvement has been defined in a myriad of ways. Hornby and
Lafaele (2011) defined parental involvement as home-based activities, which included
supervision of homework and listening to children read. They defined school-based parental
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 14
involvement as attending parent education workshops and parent-teacher meetings. Likewise,
LeFevre and Shaw (2012) defined parental involvement as being both formal and informal.
Formal parental involvement included activities in which parents are present at the school and
informal parental involvement included behaviors, activities that may provide emotional support.
Grolnick and Slowiaczek (1994) defined parental involvement in terms of the resources the
parent commited to his/her child’s education. Additionally, Jeynes (2007) defined it as
involvement in their children’s educational processes and experiences.
There are many benefits to parental involvement in student achievement and student
behavior. Cheung and Pomerantz (2012) demonstrated that parental involvement was a
motivation on children’s learning thus increasing their engagement in school. Similarly, Jeynes
(2007) conducted a meta-analysis and found that parental involvement had a positive impact on
children’s academic achievement. For example, parental involvement was associated with
higher student outcomes in measures such as grades, standardized tests, academic attitudes and
behaviors. Jeynes’s (2007) study showed similar results across different populations and
cultures. In other words, the overall impact of parental involvement was nearly as high for
minority population when compared to the overall population. The results of Jeynes’s (2007)
study suggested that parental involvement could be a tool used to decrease the achievement gap
between Whites and disadvantaged students. Furthermore, LeFevre and Shaw (2012) noted that
Latino students benefit from both informal and formal support as the results of their study
showed a positive correlation with on-time graduation. Students whose parents made contact
with the school or participated in school functions were more likely to graduate on time (LeFevre
& Shaw, 2012). This type of involvement is considered formal involvement where there is
visible participation and the parent is physically present at the school event. It may also include
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 15
contact with the school regarding the child’s academic progress, behavioral concerns or
volunteering (LeFevre & Shaw, 2012).
Despite the fact that parental involvement increases student achievement, schools have a
difficult time increasing parental involvement (Bower & Griffin, 2011). Gordon and Louis
(2009) argued that parents need direction from schools on how to be involved with their children.
There is a gap between what should be done to increase parental involvement and what is
actually done (Hiatt-Michael, 2008; Hornby & Lafaele, 2011). Hornby and Lafaele (2011)
referred to this as a gap between rhetoric and practice. Durand and Perez (2013) explained the
importance of understanding cultural beliefs in order to build stronger relationships between
home and school.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The problem of low parental involvement of Latino parents in low socioeconomic
schools is important to solve for a variety of reasons. To begin with, there is ample evidence that
parental involvement increases student achievement (Altschul, 2012; Cheung & Pomerantz,
2012; Fan & Chen, 2001; Jeynes, 2007). The achievement is seen in increased graduation rates
(LeFevre & Shaw, 2012), academic achievement (Jeynes, 2007) and improved student behavior
(Sheldon & Epstein, 2002). For example, LeFevre and Shaw (2012) noted that students of
parents who are physically involved in school or establish rules at home are more likely to
graduate on time. In addition, Cheung and Pomerantz (2012) stated that when children see their
parents involved in school the parents instill in them that school is important, yielding
academically motivated students. According to Sheldon and Eptstein (2002), family
involvement activities such as daily planners, orientations and workshops improved student
behavior. Most importantly, English Language Learners (ELLs) could benefit from the positive
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 16
effects of parental involvement as currently, 63% of ELLs in fourth grade scored below basic
and far below basic in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test
(NCES, 2012a). English Language Learners are rapidly growing and becoming the majority of
students in the United States but since the students are not meeting the accountability goals,
drop-out rates are increasing (Boone, 2011).
Central Elementary School faces a similar problem. English Language Learners make up
67% of the population and only 6% met or exceeded the standards assessed on the Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) in English Language Arts and 9% met or exceed the
standards assessed in mathematics as indicated on the CORE Index Report (Retrieved from
greatschools.org, 2016). If parental involvement does not improve, English Language Learners
will not benefit from the educational opportunities that result from parental involvement leading
to a continued achievement gap and higher welfare costs for society (Tyler & Lofstrom, 2009).
Stakeholders’ Performance Goals
Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
Central Elementary School is a Professional Learning Community committed to providing a safe
and engaging environment where every student is expected to perform to their full potential both
academically and socially. As professionals we are committed to creating clear academic focus
for all stakeholders.” (LAUSD, n.d.).
Organizational Performance Goal
By June 2018, Central Elementary School will increase parent involvement by encouraging
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 17
collaborative partnerships where parents are part of the decision-making process.
Parents Teachers Students Administrators
By February 2018,
Central Elementary
School will have 91%
of the parents who
complete the survey
state that they are
encouraged to
participate in
organized parent
groups as evidenced
by the response rate in
the School Experience
Survey.
By December 2017,
all teachers will
encourage parents to
complete the School
Experience Survey.
By September 2017,
95% of the 3
rd
-5
th

grade students will
personally invite
parents to Back to
School Night.
By September 2017,
administrators will
provide a parent
meeting that will
inform parents of the
opportunities available
to be involved.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
While the joint efforts of all stakeholders contribute to the achievement of the overall
organizational goal of increasing parent involvement by encouraging collaborative partnerships
between home and school where parents are part of the decision-making process, it was
important to evaluate where the parents were currently at the time of the study with regard to
their performance goal and determine the causes for the low parent participation rate. The
parents were the best resource to articulate and identify the reasons behind the lack of parental
engagement. As the selected stakeholder group, the parents were able to inform the school and
provide insight to increase parent participation. Therefore, the stakeholders of focus for this
study were the parents. As described in table 1, the stakeholder group’s goal, was that 91% of
the parents who completed the survey would respond that they were encouraged to participate in
organized parent groups as evidenced by the response rate in the School Experience Survey. This
goal was important to attain because increasing parental involvement has been found to be
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 18
positively correlated with increased student academic performance (Topor, Keane, Shelton &
Calkins, 2010). Thus, encouraging parents to participate in organized parent groups so that they
can be a part of the decision-making process will help create collaborative partnerships between
home and school. Consequently, causing parents to be more involved in school and increasing
student achievement.
Purpose of Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to examine a problem of practice (Clark & Estes, 2008)
by exploring the Latino parents’ beliefs about their role in their child’s academic life, their
beliefs in the ability to help their child academically and how the organization supported their
role and involvement in schools in order to achieve the organizational goal of building
collaborative partnerships between home and school where parents are encouraged to be a part of
the decision-making process through their participation in organized parent groups.
The analysis began by reviewing the research to understand the problem of practice and
the elements that support or impede parent involvement and then by examining these through the
lens of the parents to focus on their perceptions regarding their involvement with their child and
interactions with the school. While a complete analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for
practical purposes the stakeholder focused on this analysis was the Latino parents of English
Language Learners.
The question that guided this study is the following:
1. What are Latino parents' beliefs about their role and the school's role in relation to their
involvement in their child's academic life?

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 19
Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) analysis process, a systematic, analytical method that helps to
clarify organizational goals and identify actual performance level and the preferred performance
level within an organization was implemented. Elements that support and/or interfere with
parent involvement were generated based on related literature. These elements were explored by
using interviews, literature review and data analysis. Interviews were conducted with the
parents. Research-based solutions were recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive
manner.
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this dissertation. This chapter provided the reader with
the key concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion about the low parental
involvement of Latino parents in low socio-economic schools. The organization’s mission, goals
and stakeholders as well as the initial concepts of analysis were introduced. Chapter Two
provides a review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Chapter three details
the methodology when it came to research design, sampling, data collection and analysis.
Chapter four provides an analysis of the data that resulted in three major findings. Lastly,
chapter five provides a summary of the dissertation, the implications and researched-based
recommendations.
Definition of Terms
This section provides the definition of terms used in this study.
Acculturation: the process of adopting and adapting to a new culture.
Achievement Gap: The difference in performance between the white students and a minority
group.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 20
Culture: Core values, goals, beliefs, emotions and processes learned as people develop over time
both in the home and work environments (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Educación: A term used by the Latino community to refer to schooling and teaching good
manners, behavior, morals.
English Language Learner: a student whose primary language is one other than English.
Funds of Knowledge: Cultural and strategic resources that households contain (Velez-Ibanez &
Greenberg, 1992).
Informal Parent Involvement: Usually refers to the involvement that takes place in the home
such as helping with homework, folding laundry, putting groceries away and engaging in
discussions (De Gaetano, 2007).
Parent Involvement: Usually referred to as participating in school-based activities such as Back-
to-School night, workshops, meetings, participating in fundraisers.
Time-poverty: Lack of available time to participate in leisure activities due to constraints such as
work responsibilities and having to work long hours without having any time for anything else.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 21
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Parent involvement is paramount to student achievement because it has been shown to
improve grades (Jeynes, 2007), decrease high school drop-out rates (LeFevre & Shaw, 2012) and
improve social behavior (Sheldon & Epstein, 2002). Parent involvement, however, is very
limited in schools with high poverty levels (Altschul, 2012; Fan & Chen, 2001). This chapter
provides a review of literature regarding parent involvement of Latino parents including Latino
immigrant parents. The purpose of this review was to examine literature regarding cultural
differences, parent perceptions and their parent role. The review was done to better understand
the barriers impeding parent participation and to understand the beliefs of Latino parents
regarding their role in their child’s learning. Using Clark and Estes’ (2008) theoretical
framework the knowledge, motivational and organizational influences affecting parental
involvement are summarized. Theories and their application to learning, self-efficacy and
organizational change are presented regarding their application to parent involvement.
Parent Involvement: Culture Differences, Parent Perceptions and Their Role
Cultural Differences
The different cultural understandings regarding parent involvement between home and the
school have played a crucial role in impeding parent participation in schools. The literature
review conducted by Kim (2009) showed that the negative perceptions teachers held toward
minority parents might have been a reason that kept them away from school. When minority
parents wanted to be involved in the school and initiated the involvement, the teachers perceived
them as aggressive and irrational. Furthermore, Kim (2009) noted that teachers might have
bypassed asking minority parents for help because of their assumptions that the parents did not
have the time, interest, or money to support the classroom. Shim (2013) demonstrated in his
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 22
study, that teachers were unknowingly communicating to the parents that they did not care and
had not adequately prepared their children for school. These messages were causing parents to
feel intimidated, excluded and demeaned (Shim, 2013). Furthermore, De Gaetano (2007) noted
that parents with diverse cultures were often ignored or treated superficially. Guerra and
Nelsons’s (2013) literature review revealed that educators viewed culturally, linguistically and
economically diverse parents as disinterested when parents failed to exhibit traditional parent
involvement behaviors. Smith, Stern and Shatrova (2008) noted that culture might dictate the
parent involvement and some parents believed that it was the school’s responsibility to instill
knowledge and therefore were reluctant to participate.
On the contrary, when parents saw teachers genuinely interested in their families, the parents
were more willing to support the teacher and participate in the classrooms (Gonzalez & Moll,
2002). In an ethnographic study, Gonzalez and Moll (2002) used the funds of knowledge
approach where teachers visited parents’ homes seeking to understand their everyday lives. The
funds of knowledge approach was based on the idea that people acquire knowledge based on
their life experiences (Gonzalez & Moll, 2002). The term had been defined/coined by Velez-
Ibanez and Greenberg (1992) as the “cultural and strategic resources in a household” (p. 313).
Gonzalez et al. (1995) asserted that emphasis has been placed on the lack of knowledge families
brought resulting in a deficit mindset and imprecise portrayal of the families.
Shim (2013) conducted a qualitative study in which she interviewed six parents of English
Language Learners to better understand the dynamics between teachers and parents. In this
study, the parents felt disconnected with the schools and at a cultural loss of identity (Shim,
2013). Similarly, Good, Masevics and Vogel (2010) conducted qualitative interviews with both
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 23
teachers and parents and noted that parents of Latino English Language Learners expressed that
there was a lack of cultural awareness on the teachers’ part (Good, Masevics & Vogel, 2010).
Latino Parents’ Perception of Schools and Their Role
Role theory has been used to explain how one perceives his/her role in society. Whitaker
and Hoover-Dempsey (2013) explained that the parental role construction was a socially
constructed set of duties and responsibilities influenced by personal, contextual and life-context
variables. The personal variables included self-efficacy and beliefs about what one was
supposed to do (Whitaker & Hoover-Dempsey, 2013). Contextual variables included the
parents’ perceptions of invitations at the school and life-context variables included knowledge
and skills, time and energy and family culture (Whitaker & Hoover-Dempsey, 2013). In the
study conducted by Whitaker and Hoover-Dempsey (2013) in which they surveyed parents at
two Title I middle schools, they found that parents’ perceptions of school expectations, school
climate and student invitation were influential variables to role beliefs. These variables predicted
parents’ own involvement in their students’ education (Whitaker & Hoover-Dempsey, 2013).
Whitaker and Hoover-Dempsey (2013) explained that this finding was important because the
actions schools took to encourage parent involvement positively affected the parents’ beliefs
about their role and what they were supposed to do to support their child’s learning.
Latino parents want to be involved in their child’s education and see their parenting role
as supportive. The literature review conducted by Guerra and Nelson (2013) revealed that
parents believed their role was to socialize children’s behavior while the educator’s job was to
teach. They found many examples that demonstrated that Latino parents were involved in their
child’s academic life in a culturally meaningful way (Guerra & Nelson, 2013). For example,
some parenting behaviors included: instilling values of respect, telling stories, encouraging their
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 24
children to care for their siblings and participating in community events. This parenting style
was a collectivistic viewpoint where the parents supported the social development of the child
and the teacher developed the academic growth of the child (Guerra & Nelson, 2013). Smith,
Stern and Shatrova (2008) interviewed 15 Hispanic parents with little to no English language
comprehension and their findings suggested that parents saw their role as helping with
homework, ensuring that they behaved appropriately and preparing the children for school. The
following section will present literature as it relates to Latino immigrant parents.
The Voice of the Immigrant Parent
The voice of the immigrant Latino parent has been ignored in empirical studies. Limited
research exists involving Latino immigrant parents in school involvement. Since there is limited
research on Latino immigrant parents and their involvement in schools, Ramirez (2003)
conducted interviews with Latino immigrant parents in California as part of his study and found
that the parents felt abandoned regarding their child’s education and believed schools did not
listen to their concerns. Some parents felt that some expectations were unrealistic and that
teachers had low expectations of the students (Ramirez, 2003). Parents heard comments from
the teacher stating that if parents were not present at Open House, they did not care about the
children (Ramirez, 2003). Durand and Perez (2013) conducted a qualitative study with 12 Latino
parents, 8 of whom were born outside of the United States. The study revealed that Latino
parents’ beliefs about education or educación as the parents referred to it encompassed more than
just traditional values of education but included moral and interpersonal goals. This was true
regardless of the level of education and immigrant status (Durand & Perez, 2013).
Orozco (2008) analyzed 11 hours of transcripts from a bilingual radio show in which 18
Latino parents discussed their parenting roles in the United States. Two of the 18 parents were
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 25
immigrant parents. This study found that parents were very interested in their children’s future
and parents wanted the best for them (Orozco, 2008). One of the themes that emerged in this
study was the importance of culture and of being bilingual. Parents discussed the importance of
preserving their languages as a means to preserving their culture (Orozco, 2008). Calzada et al.
(2015) conducted a study to examine characteristics such as culture, teacher and socioeconomic
as predictors of parent involvement with two different immigrant groups: Afro-Caribbean and
Latino parents. Similar to other studies, Calzada et al. (2015) found that socioeconomic status
was related to low parent involvement. In regards to culture, Calzada et al. (2015) stated that
parents tended to view their parental role in various ways and it was influenced by culture.
Furthermore, Calzada et al. (2015) also indicated that the cultural incongruence was associated
with lower parent involvement because the parents were dissatisfied with the cultural
incompatibility between the family and the school. Thus, the acculturation status played a big
role in the level of parent involvement. As noted in Calzada et al. (2015) parents with high
levels of biculturalism had higher levels of parent involvement. Similarly, Smith et al. (2008)
noted that how parents adapted to the American culture would be related to their interaction with
schools.
The upcoming section reviews literature that addresses the parents’ knowledge and skills,
motivation and organizational influences in schools that may affect parent involvement in
schools with low-socio economic status.
Clark and Estes’ Conceptual Framework
According to Clark and Estes (2008), there are three major elements that must be
examined in the analysis process: knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational barriers.
Clark and Estes (2008) noted that performance is largely based by people’s beliefs about
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 26
themselves and their environment and as such in order to improve performance, we must begin
by learning about the beliefs and perceptions of the people doing the work. Therefore, in order
to examine the problem of practice, Clark and Estes (2008) conceptual framework was used to
inform my understanding of the beliefs, the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements
affecting or impeding parent participation in the schools.
Consequently, the following section reviews literature as it pertains to knowledge and
skills, motivation and organizational barriers. It focuses particularly on the parents’ knowledge
and motivation and organizational barriers that might impede and/or support their participation.
The next section begins with a general description of each factor followed by a synthesis of the
research literature about the stakeholder and the organization’s assumed influences/causes
corresponding to each factor.
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
According to Mayer (2011), knowledge is at the heart of teaching, learning and
assessment. A learner needs to possess knowledge in order to achieve an objective (Mayer,
2011). Clark and Estes (2008) stated that it is necessary to recognize whether people know how
to achieve their performance goal. There are several things to consider regarding parents’
knowledge when they are involved in school and its effect on their child’s learning. Parents need
to know what they can do to be involved, how they can be involved, and reflect on how their
involvement affects student learning. Therefore, this section of the literature review focuses on
knowledge-related influences that are essential to the achievement of parent involvement so that
parents and the school can build collaborative partnerships. The knowledge-related influences
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 27
included in the literature review are factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive
knowledge.
Knowledge Types. Mayer (2011) identified five types of knowledge: facts, concepts,
process, strategies, and metacognitive. Similarly, Krathwohl (2002) explained that there are four
types of knowledge: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and
metacognitive knowledge. Declarative knowledge includes both factual and conceptual
knowledge. Factual knowledge includes the basic elements of being able to solve a problem and
conceptual knowledge is the interrelationships among the basic elements (Krathwohl, 2002).
According to Clark and Estes (2008), conceptual knowledge is knowledge we are aware of when
thinking. Procedural knowledge was defined as the ability of knowing how to do something, the
methods of inquiry (Krathwohl, 2002). Procedural knowledge becomes automated knowledge
(Clark and Estes, 2008). Metacognitive knowledge is the awareness of one’s own learning
(Krathwohl, 2002). For the purpose of this analysis, assumed knowledge influences and needs
are addressed in terms of declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive
knowledge.
Parent Knowledge Influences. In this section, literature pertaining to the stakeholder
knowledge influences are reviewed to analyze the potential causes that exist in the parent
involvement gap. The goal was to have a 2% increase so that 91% of the parents who completed
the School Experience Survey would respond that they were encouraged to participate in
organized parent groups.
This section is divided into three parts: declarative knowledge influences which includes
both factual and conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge influences and metacognitive
knowledge influences.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 28
Declarative knowledge influences. There are knowledge and motivational influences
that may impede parents’ awareness of the resources in the educational system. Parents may not
be aware of the types of services and resources provided for parents at the school site. Another
influence is that cultural challenges may impede parents’ awareness of different ways they can
be involved at school and at home.
Factual knowledge. Crozier and Davies (2007) indicated that parents know very little
about the educational system. Furthermore, Crozier and Davies (2007) stated that parents
expected schools to make the initial contact and lacked the understanding of the significance of
parent evenings. Through structured and semi-structured interviews, Crozier and Davies (2007)
found that parents were not aware of Home-School Agreement or school expectations for parent
involvement. Moreover, Smith et al. (2008) found that the inability of parents to speak and
understand English was a major obstacle in parental involvement. Similarly Turney and Kao
(2009) also found that Hispanic and Asian parents had a weaker connection with parental
involvement due to a lack of understanding English.
Conceptual knowledge. In a qualitative study of 15 Hispanic parents, Smith, Stern and
Shatrova (2008) found that parents had a lack of understanding of the operation of the school. In
addition, Turney and Kao (2009) found that immigrant parents might not know they needed to be
involved in school and cultural challenges limited their involvement. According to Green,
Walker, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2007), parents wanted to know more about how they
could assist in their children’s learning. It is interesting to note that self-perceived skills and
knowledge did not predict involvement (Green et al., 2007).
Procedural knowledge influences. When parents use strategies at home to help their
children with homework and provide project work assistance, it can result in student
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 29
achievement. A research synthesis conducted by Patall, Cooper and Robinson (2008) found a
positive impact on the achievement of elementary students whose parents were involved in doing
homework. Patall et al. (2008) also noted that inappropriate involvement by parents such as
giving the answers or completing assignments hinders learning and self-regulatory skills.
Parents knew what the children did at school but wanted more information on how to help them
further (Crozier & Davies, 2007). Harris and Goodall (2008) stated that it was what parents did
at home and at school that makes a difference to achievement. When strong collaboration
between schools and parents exist, parents can contribute to their child’s learning by providing
specific support at home to help children acquire skills (Oostdam & Hooge, 2013). According to
Oostdam and Hooge (2013), it is out of school activities that promotes active parenting and
provided a better learning environment for children. It was emphasized by Walker, Shenker and
Hoover-Dempsey (2010) that parents wanted to know how to support their child’s learning.
Olmstead (2013) noted that home-based involvement has a bigger impact in student achievement
rather than school-based involvement. Home-based involvement activities such as helping with
homework, staying informed about school events and monitoring their children’s learning was
considered proactive involvement (Olmstead, 2013).
Metacognitive knowledge influences. The level of support provided to children at home
can affect children’s learning differently, as a result the ability to reflect or assess whether the
intensity of involvement is supporting or enhancing the child’s school achievement is an
important practice. Pomerantz, Moorman and Litwack (2007) noted that the way in which
parents are involved affected their children either positively or negatively. For example, when
parents become involved in children’s academic lives in an autonomy-supportive rather than
controlling way, the children benefit in their achievement. A study conducted by Gonida and
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 30
Cortina (2014) concluded that autonomy support was the only way to demonstrate achievement
when parents were involved in doing homework. Harris and Goodall (2008) explained that if
parents were engaged in learning then their aspiration of achievement were increased.
Furthermore, if parents were involved in a controlling manner, children did not have the
opportunity to solve challenges on their own (Pomerantz et al., 2007). Pomerantz et al. (2007)
concluded that there were benefits to children when their parents were involved through a
process-focused, autonomy supportive or positive affect and held positive beliefs about their
child. Since the effects on children’s learning is influenced by the type of parental involvement,
parents need to think about how their involvement may affect their child’s learning.
Motivation
There are several motivation variables such as self-efficacy, value, interest, goals,
attributions and emotions that explain the influences that affect active choice, persistence and
mental effort (Rueda, 2011). For the purpose of achieving the stakeholder goal at Central
Elementary School, this dissertation reviewed literature related to self-efficacy theory and
expectancy value theory. Aspects of these two theories are essential to accomplishing a higher
level of parent involvement and engagement. Described in the following section is self-efficacy
theory and a review of the literature pertaining to parents’ self-efficacy. It also explains
expectancy value theory and reviews the literature for parents’ expectations and values. Some of
the literature focuses on historically marginalized parents, specifically Latino parents due to the
high demographics of Latinos at Central Elementary School.
Self-efficacy theory. Self-efficacy is an influential concept of social cognitive theory
(Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2006). Bandura (2005) explained that self-efficacy which is a
judgement of one’s capability is not self-esteem nor locus of control. According to Pajares
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 31
(2006), self-efficacy beliefs are self-perceptions individuals hold about their capabilities. Self-
efficacy beliefs are formed from prior successful experiences, from feedback one receives and
from observing others accomplish a task (Pajares, 2006).
According to Rueda (2011) individuals with higher self-efficacy are most likely to
accomplish a task because they are more motivated and persist longer at the task. Similarly,
Denler et al. (2006) indicated that when one has more confidence in his/her ability, one will be
more active, effortful and a more effective learner. On the contrary, for individuals who have
low self-efficacy or low confidence in their skills will most likely not accomplish the task
successfully (Pajares, 2006).
Parental self-efficacy. Parent participation in school is dependent on how parents view
their role in school and their beliefs in their capacity to help their child succeed. Parents have to
believe that their efforts will make a difference in their child’s education. Rodriguez, Blatz, and
Elbaum (2014) stated that parents’ views of their role and sense of how much they could
contribute to their child’s progress affected their level of involvement. As expected, parents who
considered themselves efficacious were more likely to be involved in school regardless of the
school’s efforts to get them involved (Rodriguez et al., 2014).
Anderson and Minke (2007) explained that role construction and self-efficacy are
interrelated aspects of motivational beliefs. Johnsen and Bele (2013) found that parents felt
efficacious about being involved in school when their children struggle. For example, parents of
children with special needs felt that they had a much closer relationship with school than other
parents (Johnsen & Bele, 2013). Similarly, Oostdam and Hooge (2013) noted that parents would
contact the teacher if their child was not doing well or if problems arose. Furthermore, parents
felt they could influence the organization and teaching plan (Johnsen & Bele, 2013). On the
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 32
contrary, Green et al. (2007) found that parents self-efficacy beliefs were a strong predictor of
home-based involvement but a negative predictor of school-based involvement. Interestingly,
parents who did not feel efficacious but were motivated to participate would reach out to the
schools for assistance (Green et al., 2007). Latino parents participate less because of incongruent
role construction, low self-efficacy, low group identity and misperception of school invitations
(Shah, 2009). Furthermore, Shah (2009) noted that involvement is hindered by motivational
barriers and structural constraints.
Expectancy value theory. Expectancy value theory is related to the value or purpose
one places in the activity that aids toward the achievement of the goal. According to Rueda
(2011) an important principle to expectancy value theory is that the more value one places on an
activity the more likely one will choose to participate, the more effort and persistence one will
place on the activity. The value one places on the activity is determined by several factors such
as the type of enjoyment the activity brings, facilitation of goal achievement, and appropriateness
of learning task (Eccles, 2006).
There are three different types of values: utility, attainment and intrinsic value. Utility
value is determined by the value the task holds toward meeting future individual goals or by
fulfilling basic psychological needs (Eccles, 2006). Attainment value is based on the link
between the individual’s identities and preferences. Eccles (2006) explained that the value is
based on the individual’s self-image. If completion of the task correlates to the individual’s self-
image then the individual will place a higher attainment value and interest. Intrinsic value is
based on the enjoyment one gets from engaging in the task (Eccles, 2006). In addition, the value
of the task is characterized by the perceived cost of doing the task. According to Eccles (2006),
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 33
cost is determined by the loss of time and energy for other activities and factors such as fear,
anxiety and anger influence the value of the task.
Parents’ expectations and values. Parents value education for their children, however
time constraints limit their involvement in school-based activities. Harris and Goodall (2007)
challenged the “one size fits all” approach of parent involvement because it does not take into
consideration the complex needs or constraints that impede historically marginalized parents’
involvement. For example, Hispanic parents care about their child’s education but do not
involve themselves at school as they feel they are overstepping their boundaries (Smith et al.,
2008). Latino parents value and want to be involved however, due to time-poverty they are
unable to participate (Guerra & Nelson, 2013). Guerra and Nelson (2013) indicated that Latino
parents come to this country because they want a better life for their children and place a high
value in education. Harris and Goodall (2007) noted a response, parents are involved when they
believe their involvement plays a key part in their role as caring parents.
Changing Culture and Climate in the Organization
Cultural Change Theory
The change management process is complex and requires a skilled leader to understand
the different components of change. Organizational change is the process of continually
adjusting the organization’s direction, potential and structure in order to better serve the needs of
its stakeholders (Moran & Brightman, 2000). There are six different typologies for
organizational change, life cycle, evolutionary, dialectical, teleological, social-cognition and
cultural approaches (Kezar, 2001). This section of the literature review focuses only on the
cultural approach for organizational change, which is a combination of both the socio-cognition
and dialectical approaches. It is important to note that the change process takes time, involves
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 34
understanding the history and traditions of the organization as well as making core modifications
by altering the fundamental beliefs (Kezar, 2001).
Culture and climate are an integral part of an organization when leading organizational
change. Clark and Estes (2008) stated “organizational culture inevitably filters and affects all
attempts to improve performance, and successful performance improvement will depend on
taking the specific organizational culture into account” (p. 103). Schein (2004) described culture
as elements of a group that are most stable and least malleable. He further described culture as a
learning process that leads to shared taken-for-granted assumptions by the group members that is
influenced minimally by leader behavior (Schein, 2004). However, if the culture has become
maladaptive, it is up to the leader to recognize it and do something about it (Schein, 2004).
Moran and Brightman (2000) suggested that the manager needed to change the focus from
change to the people facing the change and their purpose, identity and mastery. Schneider, Brief
and Guzzo (1996) stated that change efforts fail due to the inability to change the “feel” of the
organization to its members. Sustainable organizational change will occur when both the climate
(policies, practices and procedures) and culture (values and beliefs) of an organization change
(Schneider et al., 1996). Kezar (2001) noted that it is important to create a culture of risk that
allows change without blame or reprimand as this will help people change their belief system. If
one wishes to change an organization, it must first learn about the culture and climate of that
organization.
Cultural Models. Cultural models are the invisible driving force of the organization.
They are the normative understandings of a group or shared mental schema (Gallimore &
Goldenberg, 2001). These understandings are so ingrained as part of the group that the group
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 35
itself may not realize it holds them (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). The following section
describes the cultural model influences as they pertain to parent involvement in schools.
Cultural model influences. A welcoming environment provided by faculty and staff is
supportive of parent involvement. In a study conducted by Levine and Tricket (2000), parents
found the school unwelcoming and reported that they had been ignored and treated
disrespectfully and felt their concerns were not addressed adequately. As a result, some parents
increased their advocacy and others became demoralized (Levine & Tricket, 2000). Thomas-
Duckwitz, Hess and Atcherly (2013) suggested that improved communication could create a
welcoming environment. The findings of this study demonstrated the importance of helping
school staff to better understand the ways that immigrant families viewed parent involvement
and to facilitate partnerships in order to increase student outcomes (Thomas-Duckwitz et al.,
2013). Levine and Tricket (2000) suggested that schools build an organizational culture that
encourages meaningful parent involvement and that it should actively listen and respect parents’
opinions and address parents’ concerns. Durand and Perez (2013) noted that relationships
contributed to parents feeling welcome at the school thus making it critical for educators to
possess cultural competence. Kim (2009) noted that the uncomfortable feelings parents
experience at school may be due to the negative perceptions parents receive from teachers and
schools. Integrating a cultural model that facilitates partnerships, changes perceptions and
creates a welcoming environment might be difficult to create since the organization may believe
that they already have such a cultural model in place.
Cultural Settings/Climate. Cultural settings are the physical space where valued
activities take place with people in the organization (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). At
schools, this may include a faculty meeting and at home, a setting could be doing homework
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 36
time or bedtime stories (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). However, Gallimore and Goldenberg
(2001) argued that settings in schools are not as productive as they need to be though people
attempt to accomplish their work. The following section describes the influences in cultural
settings of the organization as it pertains to parent involvement in schools.
Cultural setting influences. Effective communication and flexibility when scheduling
parent meetings or other school-based activities can positively impact parent involvement.
Mushtaq, Zafar, Choudhary, and Malik (2012) concluded that school-parent communication is
critical and necessary in order to bridge the communication gap. The study conducted by Smith,
Stern and Shatrova (2008) found that parents and children were confused at the lack of
communication sent in Spanish. Kim (2009) noted that parents would like meetings to be
announced ahead of time in order to arrange time off from work and that they prefer less formal
communication. In addition, Kim (2009) advised that schools increase and improve
communication with parents through the use of face-to-face meetings or telephone calls not just
written communication. Effective communication and having multiple modes of communication
can help increase parent-school connections.
Interactive Conceptual Framework
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) explained that the theoretical framework or conceptual
framework informs the questions that are asked in a study. The theoretical framework helps
frame the problem based on the literature (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Figure 1 depicts the conceptual framework for this study before going into the field. It
details the interaction between Latino parents’ knowledge and skills and their motivation,
specifically their self-efficacy and value they place in school. The level of knowledge and
motivation a parent has influences his/her beliefs about the parent’s role in either a positive or
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 37
negative manner. For example, if the parent’s knowledge about the educational system is high
and the parent feels efficacious about his/her capacity to help his/her child academically, knows
what he/she is supposed to do to help them and values education then this will positively
influence his/her beliefs about his/her parent role which will yield higher levels of parent
involvement. In contrast, if the parent’s knowledge level is low and he/she does not feel
efficacious then his/her beliefs about his/her role will lead to lower parent involvement.
Furthermore, the culture of the school can positively or negatively affect the environment and
communication between the school and the parent, thereby impacting the parent role and his/her
involvement in the school.
Figure 2 depicts the revised conceptual framework after the study was completed. In this
framework, the parent component remains the same as this study explored the parents’ beliefs
and perceptions on their role as parent, their ability to help their child academically and the
school’s role in relation to the child’s academic life. The components that changed were the
organization and the organizational goal. As I collected and analyzed the data, it became clear
that the communication and the welcoming environment that were originally perceived as two
separate components were part of the climate and culture of the organization. The
communication and welcoming environment make up part of the climate, which is embedded in
the culture of the organization. Thus, the parent role as well as the climate and culture of the
organization drives the organizational goal. As presented in figure 2, the organizational goal
demonstrates that both the school and home must influence each other and learn from each other
in order to reach the organizational goal of building collaborative partnerships
The ultimate goal of exploring the parents’ beliefs is to gain a better understanding on the
parents’ perspective with their involvement in schools, their cultural beliefs, and their self-
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 38
efficacy. It is crucial that the school understand how to best support the parents’ beliefs in order
to improve their participation in school.
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Prior to the Study

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 39
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework after the Study

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 40
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this project was to examine a problem of practice using Clark and Estes’
(2008) conceptual framework to understand the knowledge, motivation and organizational
elements that supported or interfered with achieving the organizational goal of building
collaborative partnerships with parents and the school by encouraging parents to be part of the
decision-making process. The problem of practice was the low parental involvement of Latino
parents in low socio-economic schools. It is crucial to increase parent involvement in schools as
parent involvement has been positively correlated with student academic achievement (Altschul,
2012; Cheung & Pomerantz, 2012; Fan & Chen, 2001; Jeynes, 2007). In order to understand the
factors affecting the low involvement of Latino parents in schools an exploratory study was
conducted.
This exploratory study attempted to give parents a voice regarding their experience in
schools with parent involvement and their beliefs about their role as a parent in their child’s
academic lives.
Research Question
This study addressed the following research question:
1. What are Latino parents' beliefs about their role and the school's role in relation to their
involvement in their child's academic life?
Participating Stakeholders
This study explored Latino parents’ understanding of and experiences with involvement
in their children’s academic lives and in their children’s school. The rationale behind this was
that Latino parents have low participation rates in school involvement activities. Through survey
reports collected from parents, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2012) reports
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 41
that the participation rate of a White parent volunteering in a K-12 grade school was 54%
compared to 31% of a Latino parent. The parents in this study resided in an urban community in
Los Angeles. They lived in a community where the median household income (the most current
figure) was $31,559 dollars (Los Angeles Times, 2008).
In order to ensure that I was able to examine a wide range of parent experiences, I
engaged in maximum variation sampling. Thus, I used a range of criteria to sample parents to
participate in the study. Since the sample was only 10 parents, it was important to broaden the
criteria for selection and be as inclusive as possible in order to get a better picture of the parent
involvement at the school. Meriam and Tisdell (2016) stated that allowing for a wider range of
participants provides readers the opportunity to apply the findings of the study to their situation.
Thus, the parents who participated in this study had diverse backgrounds and experiences that
were consistent with the range of backgrounds and experiences of the parents at the school. For
example, the length of time in the country varied, some parents were recent immigrants, others
had lived in the United States for a long time, and others were born in the United States. In
addition, the gender of the parents was not limited to only females as it sought to understand
different perspectives, including the father’s perspective and experiences with the school. The
following section explains the different criteria selected for the participants in this study.
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale
Criterion 1. All 10 participants had at least one child attending Central Elementary
School and their participation in school events varied from one to over six events.
Criterion 2. The participants ranged in terms of length of time in the United States.
There was a total of 6 of 60% of the parents who had lived in the United States for over 20 years,
one of whom was a U.S. citizen. The other four or 40% had been living in the United States
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 42
between 5 and 15 years. Ninety percent of the parents were immigrants, seven or 70% were
from Mexico, 2 or 20% were from El Salvador.
Criterion 3. Participants had children with various language ability levels. Latino
parents of children who had various language ability levels. At the time of the study, the school
had 67% of the students who are English Language Learners and 33% who were Standard
English Learners. Seventy percent of the participants had children who were identified as
English Learners, the other 30% had children identified as English Only (EO) or re-designated as
English Proficient (RFEP).
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
Maximum variation sampling was the sampling strategy used in this study. Maximum
variation sampling “allows for the possibility of a greater range of application by readers and
consumers of the research” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 257). This was the best strategy for
this study because it allowed for greater input from various parents. Since the sample was a total
of 10 participants, having parents with diverse criteria provided the opportunity to get various
inputs and gain a deeper understanding of the parents’ perspective of their knowledge and skills,
motivational elements and organizational elements that impeded or supported their involvement
in school. This permitted me to see if there were patterns within and across the diverse group of
participants.
The recruitment and selection of the participants was done through various ways. I
attended a parent meeting in which I informed parents of the purpose of the study and invited
them to participate. I also recruited parents during the morning drop-off and at the parent center.
I wanted to get participants who met some or all of the criteria but also parents who might not
always attend meetings or actively participate in the school: parents who were less involved.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 43
During the parent meeting, I was given time on the agenda where I informed parents of
the study. The parents who showed an interest in participating in the study were given a screener
document to ensure that they met the criterion set forth in the study. The parents filled out the
screener document during the meeting. I also visited the parent center and network recruited
there. In addition to recruiting at the parent center and the parent meeting, I attempted to recruit
parents during the morning drop-off routine. I stood near the entrance of the school, on the
sidewalk and approached parents as they were walking their children to school. I introduced
myself using the recruitment script to inform them of the study and if they agreed to participate
they were provided with the screener document to fill out. The recruitment script both in English
and Spanish can be found in Appendix C. I approached approximately 15 parents but only five
showed an interest and filled out the screener document, however, when I called them to set up
interviews their numbers were disconnected with the exception of one parent. Unfortunately, the
one parent who gave me the correct phone number, did not keep any of the appointments I set up
with her, though I rescheduled her meeting at least three times.
The screener document was used in the selection of the participants by aligning their
background and experiences with each criterion before making the final selection. The screener
document both in English and Spanish can be found in Appendix D. I had a total of 16 parents
from which to select my sample. In order to select, I ensured that all parents met the first
criterion, that they had one child who attended the school where the study took place. Then, I
sorted the parents in two piles, parents recruited at a school event/meeting and parents who were
recruited during the drop-off. I sorted the parents into different categories based on the number
of years in the country and finally I reviewed the language classification of their children.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 44
I selected parents from which I had the fewest representation first. For example, I did not
have many parents who were born in the United States nor parents with children who were fluent
in English, so I ensured that they formed part of the study. Parents from which I had a high
number of representation had to meet two or more of the criteria. Doing so, ensured that an
overrepresentation of the same profile did not occur. Once I selected the 10 participants for the
sample, I informed them through a telephone call that they were the selected participants for the
study. I immediately began to set dates and time for the interviews at a time that was convenient
for the parents.
Data Collection and Instrumentation
The data collection method that was used in this study was interviews. Interviews were
conducted with 10 Latino parents. The length of each interview averaged 30 minutes. Seven or
70% of the interviews were conducted in Spanish and 30% were done in English. The language
in which the interview was conducted was selected by the participant.
The interviews were tape-recorded and were conducted face-to-face at the school site at a
time that was convenient to the participants. The parents selected the school as their first choice
to conduct the interview. I was given access and permission to use a room in the Main Office
that allowed for privacy. Even though the tape-recorder may have made the respondent uneasy,
it allowed me to listen to the respondent more attentively (Weiss, 1994). The interviews
followed a semi-structured approach. The semi-structured approach was the best approach for
this study because it allowed the researcher to follow up on responses that needed further
clarification. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) stated that the semi-structured approach “allows the
researcher to respond to the situation at hand to the emerging worldview of the respondent, and
new ideas on the topic” (p. 111).
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 45
The types of questions that were asked aimed to understand the parents’ beliefs and
values regarding their involvement in the academic life of their child. Some of the questions
asked about the school experience and the role of the parent. These questions aimed to directly
answer the research question because most of them are related to the beliefs of the parents, their
self-efficacy, the expectancy value and their school experience. The questions also explored the
school’s culture and the school’s welcoming environment from the perspective of the parent.
The questions were open-ended and single barreled meaning the question addressed one issue at
a time. For a complete list of the questions, refer to Appendix A for the interview protocol. The
Spanish version of the interview protocol can also be found in Appendix A.
Data Analysis
Data analysis began during data collection as I listened to the participants during the
interviews. I wrote analytic memos after each interview. I documented my thoughts, concerns,
and initial conclusions about the data in relation to my conceptual framework and research
questions. Once I left the field, interviews were transcribed by a transcription service online.
For each of the 10 transcripts I went through a cycle of reading, note-taking, asking questions,
coding, interpreting and making inferences. Each transcript was read multiple times in order to
fully comprehend and interpret what the participant was saying. As I went through each
transcript, I compared the next participant to the former in order to begin to see similarities and
differences between the participants. This is consistent with Corbin and Strauss’s (2008)
constant comparative analysis approach.
In the first phase of analysis, I open coded, looking for in vivo codes. Some of the in
vivo codes were: I participated; I talk to the teacher; respect for others. I used the analytic tools
described in Corbin and Strauss (2008) such as use of questions, making comparisons, waving
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 46
the flag, looking at language and emotions expressed, and the use of time during the first phase.
I kept notes on the margins of the transcripts as I read through each one. The analytic tool that
was the most useful in this stage was asking questions. Asking questions helped me try to
understand the phenomena of Latino parent involvement in schools. For example, the first
participant whose data I analyzed was a parent who spoke English and had expressed many of
the elements in my conceptual framework. She expressed the reasons why she was involved at
the school and with her child, which provided insight to her level of self-efficacy and her beliefs
on her role as a parent.
A second phase of analysis was conducted where empirical and a priori codes were
aggregated into analytic/axial codes. Among some of the codes I used were EDUC-educación,
K-knowledge, M-motivation, O-organization, Role-Parent Role, PI-Parent Involvement, and
HW-homework.
In the third phase of data analysis I identified pattern codes and themes that emerged in
relation to the conceptual framework and the research question. I began to transfer data from the
transcripts to create a codebook. Then, I transferred the data from the Word document to a
journal I used that allowed me to see all the data compiled in one place. I was able to analyze the
codes across all of the participants. Comparing one participant to the next allowed me to place
the parents in similar categories to create the different levels of self-efficacy and see the
differences and similarities between the interactions they had with their children and with the
school.
After coding all of transcripts and having completed all of the three phases for each, I
began to create the findings of my study. At this last and final stage, I ensured to answer my
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 47
research question by writing analytic memos that included data sandwiches that validated my
assertions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Qualitative research studies need to be credible and trustworthy. It may be hard to
establish credibility in a qualitative study because qualitative studies are based on assumptions
on reality and the real world (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Many researchers have developed
criteria that can be used to establish credibility and trustworthiness. For example, qualitative
researchers have used triangulation, member checking, data, reflexivity and intensive long-term
involvement in order to establish credibility (Maxwell, 2013). Trustworthiness in a qualitative
study is the equivalent of reliability in a quantitative study which means that you expect the same
results every time. In a qualitative study, trustworthiness is difficult to establish (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). The reason it is difficult to establish is because the purpose of qualitative study is
to understand or explore a topic and understand how people interpret the world. It would be
nearly impossible to replicate the behaviors observed in a qualitative study (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). However, as long as the results are consistent with the data collected then the qualitative
study can be considered reliable (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
In this study, credibility and trustworthiness were established using reflexivity (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016), peer review (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), collecting rich data (Maxwell, 2013)
and triangulation (Maxwell, 2013). Since I interpreted the data and my interpretation was
influenced by my knowledge, background and beliefs, reflexivity assisted me in establishing
credibility. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) described reflexivity as the ability of the researcher to
self-reflect on biases, assumptions and experiences. I kept a journal with me at all times during
the dissertation process, so that I could write my thoughts and reflections. As the researcher, I
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 48
brought several biases to this study which I ensured that I stayed conscious of during the data
collection process. First and foremost I am a Latina. I am also an immigrant. I am a parent and
I am a principal of an elementary school in the same district where I conducted the study. I also
attended schools in the same district. I am cognizant that I brought these set of biases to my
study that without accounting for them, might have influenced my data collection and data
analysis. In order to guard against these biases, I wrote regular reflective notes after each
interview. I continually asked reflective questions that helped me keep objectivity and
awareness of my biases as I conducted the study. Some of the questions I asked myself were the
following: How does the person’s experience help me understand their perspective? Am I
staying objective or am I siding with the parent? Did the response affect my feelings toward the
participant? As a principal, do I view this parent as supportive of the school’s efforts?
It was important for me to continuously reflect on the way in which I presented the data.
I wanted to ensure that I presented the stories the parents shared regarding their experience in a
way that was true to the data so that school leaders could learn from the parents’ stories and build
stronger partnerships with them. I wanted to avoid the findings and recommendations from
being controversial so I ensured I presented the data in a neutral manner so that they could be
embraced as a learning opportunity by school leaders and district personnel.
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016) the dissertation committee serves as peer
review as the dissertation is reviewed by the committee members. As I went through the
analysis process, I spent many hours discussing my interpretation of the data with my
dissertation advisor. I also had the dissertation reviewed by the Doctoral Support Center. Peer
review ensured that the inferences and interpretations I made were accurate as I discussed my
thoughts and interpretations with others who had experience with the topic of the study. The
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 49
conversations I had with my dissertation advisor helped me see the findings and interpretations
through multiple lenses, as principal and as a parent. It is the responsibility of the researcher to
check against his or her own perceptions and peer review is a means to validate those
perceptions. As I used peer review to go through the analysis process, my perspective of how I
approached the problem switched from one where I wanted to solve the problem using only
school-based solutions to one where the problem needed to be solved through collaboration. For
example, initially, I wanted to simply increase parent involvement in school-based activities by
having more parents attend workshops. Through discussions with peers, I realized that it was
important for the school to create partnerships where the responsibility to increase parent
involvement falls on both the parent and the school and not simply the school.
In this study, I ensured that I collected rich data and that this process was explained
thoroughly. Maxwell (2013) stated that interviews can provide rich data and verbatim transcripts
may be required to do so. Accordingly, the interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed to
ensure accuracy of the data collected and ensure that rich data was collected. I ensured that
throughout the data collection process, the data was gathered accurately. Prior to starting the
data analysis, I ensured that I cleaned each transcript by listening to the audio and reading the
document at the same time to ensure accuracy of the transcription. I am bilingual with a minor
in Spanish which helped ensure credibility as most of the data gathered was in Spanish and I
translated the interview protocols.
According to Maxwell (2013), triangulation decreases systematic biases and allows for
better understanding of the explanations one develops. In this study, triangulation was used as a
way to ensure credibility and trustworthiness by analyzing different participants in relation to
each other. Determining whether a finding was supported was done by triangulating one
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 50
participant’s response to the other. The triangulation of the participants’ responses ensured that
the finding was supported by the responses provided from multiple participants.
Ethics
When conducting research studies, it is imperative that all researchers follow and uphold
the three ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Vanclay, Baines, and
Taylor (2013) explained that the researcher has an obligation to avoid conflict of interests and to
be mindful of moral hazard. This section provides an explanation of how these principles are
evident in this study following the guidelines and regulations of the intended ethical principles.
This study was approved by the Internal Review Board at the University of Southern
California. In addition, it was also approved by the district where the study took place by the
Committee for External Research Review (CERR) in the Office of Data and Accountability.
The Belmont Report (1979) summarized respect to persons as giving the person
autonomy and protecting those with diminished autonomy (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services [HHS], retrieved 2016). In this study, respect for persons was demonstrated by
informing all of the participants that this study was voluntary and providing them the purpose of
the study. Through informed consent, the participants understood that participating in the study
was voluntary and they could drop out at any time during the study (Glesne, 2011). Many of the
participants were Spanish speakers, therefore, the consent form and interview questions were
translated into Spanish to ensure that the participants had a clear understanding of the study.
Though the informed consent form approved by IRB was not used, all participants signed and
agreed to being audio-taped on the informed consent form found in Appendix B. The IRB
approved informed consent form was discovered by the researcher after the data collection
process was completed which differed from the one used because it requested the signature from
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 51
the investigator and a check-off box to indicate whether the participant agreed to being audio-
taped. The information sheet/consent form used in this study, both in English and Spanish can
be found in Appendix B. According to Glesne (2011), informed consent can empower research
participants.
The principle of beneficence refers to the study not causing any harm and protecting the
well-being of the participants (Vanclay et al., 2013). Beneficence was evident by keeping all of
the data collected in a safe and secured placed. Doing so ensured confidentiality. In this study,
it was important to keep all data confidential to ensure that the participants did not face any
ramifications. Since the focus of the study was Latino immigrant parents, some may have been
undocumented. Fictitious names were used so that no identifying data can be linked back to the
participants. The data was collected through an interview process rather than focus groups to
ensure confidentiality. The data collected was kept in the principal investigator’s home. Glesne
(2011) noted that confidentiality can be respected by not discussing the specifics of what is heard
or seen with anyone.
The final principle is justice which is related to the selection process of the participants.
The purpose of this principle is to ensure that the selection of the participants is fair, non-
exploitative and weighs the costs and benefits (Vanclay et al., 2013). In this study, a maximum
variation sample was conducted to ensure diversity and a representative sample of the
population. This study benefited both the researcher and the participants as the solutions to the
problem it sought to solve provided insight to improving parent involvement in schools which
will benefit the academic and social emotional development of the participants’ children.
To avoid conflicts of interest and issues of power, I did not conduct the study at my
school. A neighboring school within the same district and with similar demographics was
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 52
selected for this study. I had no relationship with the school, except as researcher. My bias
might include that I am a Latina immigrant and both of my parents are Latino immigrants.
However, I have lived in the United States for over 35 years. In addition, I have over 23 years of
experience as an educator for the district in which the school is located.
Limitations and Delimitations
There were a few limitations and delimitations found in this study. In addition, the
sample in this study was a small sample of Latino parents. The data collected came from a
specific group of participants and, therefore, is not generalized to what other parents in the larger
population believe. Due to the scope of this study, another limitation was that only the parent
stakeholder group was interviewed and thus, the input of other stakeholders regarding parent
involvement is not available. Although the parents had different levels of involvement, all of the
parents participated in school-based activities and were recruited at the school site.
I am a novice researcher with limited experience in the field which affected the data
collection and data analysis. In a semi-structured interview, it is expected that the researcher
probe using follow up questions. However, I did not fully recognize the time where I needed to
probe preventing me from collecting rich data. As I was going through the process of data
analysis, I realized areas where probing would have been helpful to get additional information.
Furthermore, I have limited experience developing interview protocols and questions that gather
rich data to answer the research questions. During the data analysis, I might have missed some
important inferences about the data collected. Another limitation was the amount of time spent
on data collection. There was not enough time to do follow-up interviews to clarify the
responses. Furthermore, the responses received from the parents might not be accurate as the
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 53
parents might have provided incorrect information and responded based on what they thought
their answer should be for the question.
Conclusion
This chapter laid out the methods that were used to gather data that helped answer the
research question regarding Latino parent involvement in schools. It provided thorough
descriptions of the data collection and instrumentation, sampling criteria, and recruitment
strategy. It presented the limitations and delimitations in the study as I explored the Latino
parents’ perspective on the knowledge and skills, motivational elements and organizational
elements affecting parent involvement in schools.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 54
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to explore and understand Latino parent involvement in
schools. It was an attempt to give parents a voice regarding their experiences in schools and
their beliefs about their role as a parent. More specifically, it examined how parents perceived
their role in the academic life of their child. This study also looked at the parents’ beliefs
regarding their ability to help their child academically and how the organization supported their
role and involvement in schools with low socio-economic status. As such, the research question
that guided this study was:
1. What are Latino parents' beliefs about their role and the school's role in relation to their
involvement in their child's academic life?
Participating Parents
Interviews were conducted with 10 Latino parents in an elementary school and three
findings emerged after data collection and data analysis were completed. Table 2 summarizes
the characteristics of the participating parents which include their expressed self-efficacy, origin,
length of time in the country, the language the interview was conducted and the number of
activities parents had participated in during the year.
Table 2
Parent Participants
Participants Expressed
Self-
Efficacy
Origin Length
of Years
in USA
Lg. of
Interview
Conducted
Child’s Lg.
Proficiency
Number of
Activities
Participated/Yr.
Antonia Confident Mexico 5 Spanish English
Learner
(EL)
1-2
Reyna Confident Mexico 20+ Spanish EL 6+
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 55
Mia Confident USA All English English
Only (EO)
3-4
Edilia Resourceful El
Salvador
10+ Spanish EL 3-4
Elena Resourceful Mexico 20+ Spanish EL 6+
Juliana Resourceful Mexico 10+ Spanish EL 6+
Francisca Resourceful Mexico 20+ Spanish Reclassified
as English
Proficient
(RFEP)
6+
Luis Resourceful Mexico 10+ Spanish RFEP 6+
Jose Practical Mexico 47+ English EL 6+
Sophie Practical El
Salvador
20+ English EL 5-6

The first finding was in relation to how the parents in this study viewed as two separate
roles, the responsibilities of the school and the home responsibilities regarding the children’s
schooling. The parents believed that the most important thing they could teach their children
was respect, good manners and behavior, all of which are embraced in the concept of educación.
The parents deferred the responsibility of teaching the academic content areas to the school,
however, it was not to the exclusion of believing they had a role in participating in their child’s
academic life. Therefore, the parents were more likely to entrust and accept the school to make
the academic decisions regarding their child.
The second finding was that the parental self-efficacy was on a continuum as the parents
expressed different levels of confidence in their ability to teach and help their children with the
academic content areas. There were three distinct levels that emerged: Confident, Resourceful,
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 56
and Practical. Parents in the Confident level were parents who expressed high self-efficacy,
parents who expressed low to moderate self-efficacy were parents who were Resourceful and
those who expressed the lowest level of self-efficacy fell in the Practical level. The parents
supported their child’s academic life and their learning in ways that were within the parents’
means and capacity. They enacted their roles in various ways and had different types of
interactions at home with their children and at school, based on their level of self-efficacy.
Furthermore, the school had structures in place that both supported and impeded parent
involvement and influenced the interactions they had with their children. Parents felt welcome,
enjoyed coming to the school and described the school as a family or second home. However,
the activities that the parents participated in at school did not necessarily build the parents’
capacity to help their children academically as some of the activities were non-academic in
nature. The parents were content and comfortable participating in these activities as they
believed that they were supporting the school’s needs.
The third finding demonstrated that parents used the resources available to them at school
to learn to improve their engagement with the school and with their children at home.
Regardless of their voiced level of efficacy every parent wanted to position themselves to be
better equipped to help their children’s learning. The parents enacted their role by attending
workshops and parent meetings to enhance their skills and knowledge.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 57
Finding 1: Division of Labor
The parents believed that their main responsibility to teach their children was educación,
teaching respect, good manners, and good behavior at home and deferred the responsibility
of teaching the academic content areas to the school. The parents still played a role in their
child’s academic life but were more likely to entrust and accept the academic decisions
made by the school.
Consistent with the literature, Latino parents demonstrated the importance of educación
and teaching their children more than just academics but morality and responsibility (Durand &
Perez, 2013; Halgunseth, Ispa, & Rudy, 2006; Whitaker & Hoover-Dempsey, 2013). As stated
in Reese, Balzano, Gallimore, and Goldenberg (1995), educación incorporates not only
academics and formal schooling but also respect for others, knowing the difference between right
and wrong, and correct behavior. The parents put an emphasis on both schooling and upbringing
but placed a bigger emphasis on what was taught at home as those values and virtues that fell
under the domain of educación. In schools with high-poverty, the idea that the school is
responsible for academics is depicted by parents placing a high importance on wanting teachers
for their children who are more focused and skilled at increasing student achievement (Jacob &
Lefgren, 2007).
The parents distinctly perceived that both the school and the parents had different
responsibilities. The academic responsibilities fell on the school’s domain and educación at
home which begins with respect and kindness. This differentiation of the responsibilities is
reflected in the literature regarding Latino parent involvement and beliefs (Chrispeels & Rivero,
2001). The parents in this study believed that the main responsibility of the school was to teach
the academic content areas, enhance learning with extra-curricular activities such as dance and to
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 58
provide the resources necessary for the students to succeed. Antonia expressed the
responsibilities of the school and the home and defined educación as follows:
En la escuela, ensenarles lo que son
las materias. Es su tarea de enseñarles
académicamente, porque lo que es la
educación, se empieza por la casa, y
las materias, la escuela. Para mí la
educación en la casa, como le digo, es
el respeto y el ser amables. El ser
siempre amables porque yo les digo a
mis hijas, “Si tú no saludas, nadie te
va a saludar. Y si tú eres amable con
alguien, vas a caerles bien a todos.
Porque si eres grosero, nadie va a estar
a gusto contigo.
At school, teach them the subject
areas. It is their task to teach them
academically, because as far as
education, it begins at home, and the
subjects, the school. For me education
is at home, like I told you, respect and
being kind. Always being kind,
because I tell my daughters, “If you
don’t greet, nobody will greet you. If
you are kind with someone, they’re
going to like you. But if you are
mean, nobody will be happy with you.
Antonia clearly defined educación as respect for others, and asserted that if one gives respect you
will receive it. By stating that educación begins at home she implied that it is the responsibility
of the parents to teach their children respect at home. She perceived the school’s responsibilities
as teaching academics and teaching of the subject areas when she stated that the subject areas
and academics need to be taught at school. This statement demonstrated that she perceived a
definite separation of the school and the home responsibilities; a division of labor.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 59
Similarly, Francisca revealed the idea of a shared responsibility but also saw a distinction
between the duties of the school and the duties of the parents. Francisca described the idea of the
school as the one who teaches and the parents as the ones who educate. Francisca stated that
No toda la responsabilidad va ir con
los maestros. También nosotros les
tenemos que ayudar…aqui vienen a
que les enseñen, nosotros los
educamos.
Not all of the responsibilities will fall
on the teachers. We have to help
them…they come here so they can
teach them and we educate them.

What Francisca articulated is the idea of the school as the one who is responsible for teaching
and the parents as the ones responsible for educating. The words that she chose to use to show
this distinction are enseñar and educar and though they are similar when translated teach and
educate have varied context in Spanish. There is a cultural difference in the understanding and
the implications of these two words, which delineates the separation of the responsibilities.
Enseñar implies the teaching of the academics, and educar as teaching good manners and
behavior. She described what she tells her child “A la escuela vas a aprender, vas a que te
enseñen…Cuando esté hablando el maestro ponle atención al maestro” (“At school you go to
learn, you go so they can teach you, when the teacher is talking, pay attention.”). This is
consistent with the literature as parents defer to the expert, in this case the school (Chrispeels &
Rivero, 2001; Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler, 2007). Chrispeels and Rivero
(2001) stated that parents completely trust teachers and administration and as such do not
question those who are better prepared and equipped to help their children (as cited in
Carrasquillo & London, 1993, p. 44). Francisca further expressed that she wanted parents to tell
their children to pay attention to the teacher just like she told hers. Her beliefs about educación
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 60
show that she saw a distinction between what was her responsibility and the school’s
responsibility. The expectations that she had were that she wanted her daughter to behave and
pay attention at school. Reese et al. (1995) explained that good behavior expectations are
incorporated in educación.
The value that was most frequently represented in the concept of educación was respect.
When the parents were asked to describe what they perceived to be the most important thing they
could teach their children, 7 out of 10 or 70% of the parents believed that teaching their child to
be respectful was the most important. Jose is an example of one of these parents and he stated,
“I teach him to be respectful… we teach him manners and how to say, when they give him
something, oh, thank you. To be appreciative and all that, yeah.” The other 30% of the parents
did not specifically use the word respect, however, the ideas they expressed such as being a good
citizen, being responsible, having good manners, patient and having perseverance were important
virtues that fall under the concept of respect. Sophie was a parent who expressed that being
responsible and being a good citizen was important. She stated, “Has to be responsible. To get
along with other kids.” Therefore, 100% of the parents believed that teaching their children
respect was the single most important thing they could teach their children. The idea of teaching
respect is consistent with the literature as Reese et al. (1995) stated that teaching respect is an
essential value of educación.
Consistent with the division of labor, parents in this study sought the guidance of the
teacher when they had concerns about their child and accepted the decisions without questioning
those decisions. They supported their child academically by checking in with the teacher
regarding their child’s behavior at school and implementing the suggestions made by the school.
For example, Elena understood that her daughter was behind in reading and deferred to the
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 61
school to make the instructional decisions to help her daughter improve because she perceived
the school’s responsibility as the ones that oversee the academic area. Elena had previously
spoken to the teacher about her daughter’s academic progress at the first parent conference where
the teacher requested that she wait for the next parent conference before taking action and in the
meantime she should have her daughter practice her reading. By asking the parent to wait, the
school was reinforcing the division of labor and accepting the responsibility for the student’s
academic progress. Her statement below showed that she accepted the decision made by the
school. She stated,
Ahorita habíamos hablado con la
maestra, y me dijo que me esperara
unas cuatro semanas para ver. Pues
como le digo, ahorita voy a esperar en
marzo. Si ella no le ayuda, yo tengo
que hablar con el director o algo.
We had talked with the teacher and
she told me to wait about 4 weeks to
see. Like I told you, I am going to
wait until March. If she does not help
her, I have to talk with the principal or
something.
Elena’s comment demonstrated that she accepted the recommendation the teacher gave her
because she was going to “wait and see.” When Elena stated “…tengo que hablar con el director
o algo” (“…I have to talk with the principal or something.”) it showed that she would seek
further support from the principal if she did not get the help for her child as she saw the principal
as one who has more knowledge and is better equipped to help, but was also unsure on what
steps to take after she sought the support of the principal. Therefore, this statement also implied
that the organization had not adequately provided her the knowledge she needed to understand
the obligations of the school to support and intervene for her child. The school was reinforcing
the role Elena had constructed as a parent who accepted the school’s decisions.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 62
Similarly, Sophie had concerns about her daughter and relied on both the teacher and the
principal to help her when her child was having a hard time in school. Sophie stated,
I go and talk to the teachers. First of all, I’ll go and I’ll talk to the principal and I’ll go
and talk to the teachers and they’ll help me resolve the problems. My daughter right now
she’s gonna go every Wednesday and Thursday they’re gonna give extra classes for
them. For the English learners. She’s going to that class. …they’re [the school] gonna
help her improve more.
Sophie’s remark, “they’ll [the teachers] help me resolve the problems.” revealed that she
perceived the teachers as experts and was relying on the school to help. The trust that Sophie
had on the school was evident when she stated, “…they’re [the school] gonna help her improve”.
She believed that the school teachers and administrators were the experts and trusted they would
help her daughter make progress.
The beliefs parents had about educación helps us understand the emphasis parents placed
on teaching the values of respect, good behavior and manners and saw the school as responsible
for teaching the academics. In high-poverty schools, Jacob and Lefgren (2007) discovered that
parents placed a high value on the teacher’s ability to improve student achievement. This belief
positioned the parents in a role where they accepted and expected the school to make the
academic decisions for their children. This positioned parents in a less active role regarding their
child’s academic life because they viewed the school as the experts of education and entrusted
the school in making the academic decisions, a role which was reinforced by the school’s
actions. The parents demonstrated that they wanted to be involved in their children’s academic
life. The next finding will further show the parents’ beliefs in their abilities to help their children
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 63
academically, the types of interactions parents had with their children and at school as a result of
their beliefs in their role and self-efficacy.
Finding 2: The Self-Efficacy Continuum
The parents’ level of self-efficacy influenced their role as parent, the educational
interactions they had with their children at home and the type of interactions they had with
the school.
The parents in this study expressed various levels of confidence in their ability to help
their child academically. Bandura (2005) explained that self-efficacy is one’s belief in the ability
to do something. Based on the level of self-efficacy articulated, parents enacted their roles in
various ways and had different types of academic interactions at home with their children.
Whitaker and Hoover-Dempsey (2013) asserted that parents’ motivational efforts are a
combination of their self-efficacy and role construction, which is socially constructed.
Therefore, we will see that parents constructed their roles based on their beliefs in their ability to
help their child but also on the expectations the school had for them to be involved.
The parents in this study demonstrated three distinct levels of efficacy which was
reflected in their interactions with their children and the interactions with the school. The
parents supported their child’s academic life and their learning in ways that were within the
parents’ means and capacity. The three levels are Confident, Resourceful and Practical and are
defined in the following section.
Confident parents were parents who were confident in their ability to support their child
academically and had the highest level of self-efficacy. Thirty percent or three parents fell
within the Confident Level. The parents in the Confident Level expressed their confidence by
the way they talked about homework and the way in which they positioned themselves to ask
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 64
questions to their children regarding school. Doing so demonstrated the parents’ belief in their
ability to guide their children’s learning and educational attainment. The parental self-efficacy
was linked to the interactions they had with their children as they demonstrated their self-
efficacy by being directly involved with their children in school projects. Confident parents
were somewhat familiar with the functioning of the school, were knowledgeable about some
components of the curriculum and their child’s ability level. As far as the interactions they had
with the school, Confident parents were parents who varied their involvement in the school.
Some parents were highly involved and expected an equal partnership with the school while
others were not as involved. I am, therefore, defining a confident parent as a parent with high
self-efficacy with a belief that they could guide their children’s academic learning and a parent
who wanted and expected to have an equal partnership with the school to address concerns or
improve their child’s academic growth.
A resourceful parent was a parent who demonstrated low to moderate self-efficacy in
their belief of helping their child academically. Fifty percent or five parents fell within the
resourceful level. Resourceful parents did not express the same level of involvement as the
Confident parents, however, they did express an awareness that they were not positioned to help
their child academically because either the academic content was too difficult or they had not
done well in school themselves. The Resourceful parents were parents who reached out to others
to get assistance for their child’s schooling. The Resourceful parents were more involved with
the school in comparison to the Confident parents. They volunteered more often, attended
workshops or school events regularly. I am defining a Resourceful parent as a parent who was
self-aware of his/her abilities to help his/her children and reached out to others for assistance
because he/she did not believe he/she was positioned to help them him/herself.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 65
Parents in the practical category expressed the lowest self-efficacy to support their
children academically. They expressed a belief that they could not help their children
academically themselves and supported their children academically following the guidance of
the school. Twenty percent or two parents were in the Practical level and were less likely to
have similar interactions with their children as the Confident or Resourceful parents. The
Practical parents were not directly involved with their children’s academic but were very much
concerned about their children’s academic growth. For example, parents were present during
homework, however, they did not help them directly. Practical parents would rely on the help
from the teachers to help their children which demonstrated that they were not positioned to help
their children academically. As reflected in the literature is the idea that when parents do not feel
efficacious they request the assistance from the school (Green et al., 2007). Practical parents
also demonstrated their involvement by motivating and encouraging their children in school.
The type of involvement that the parents in this category demonstrated may not be recognized as
the typical parent involvement in schools.
Theme 1: Parent Involvement through Homework
One-hundred percent of the parents in this study had an established routine for their
children to do homework. Parents being involved with homework is a very typical outcome as it
is reflected in the literature that parents are involved in their child’s education at home through
homework (Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, & Burrow, 1995; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008;
Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, Whetsel, & Green, 2004). The routines varied slightly regarding the
time homework was completed and whether or not the routine included reading. Sixty-six
percent or two out of three parents in the Confident level included reading as part of the after-
school routines.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 66
Mia is an example of a Confident parent. She demonstrated a higher level of self-
efficacy as she involved herself by ensuring that the homework was completed and checked to
see if the homework was done correctly. Mia expressed “…she’s like, (referring to her daughter)
‘I can do it. Don’t worry.’ Then I just check it because I make sure I check the homework.”
Mia’s statement, “I make sure I check the homework” demonstrated her high level of confidence
with helping her daughter because even though Mia’s daughter is able to do homework
independently, Mia ensured to check the homework. Mia demonstrated her confidence by
supporting her daughter’s schoolwork and being involved with the homework. Mia constructed
her role as someone who was actively involved with her child’s schoolwork and with her child’s
progress.
Resourceful parents, who demonstrated moderate self-efficacy expressed a struggle when
helping their children with homework. They did not feel confident in helping their children with
homework and were aware of their capacity, therefore, these parents sought support from others.
Edilia is one out of the five parents who was Resourceful. She expressed the following
regarding homework: “Casi siempre lo hacen aqui [el programa después de escuela], porque
como casi yo no se leer inglés hablo poco no, siempre yo hablo con la directora de la tarde y ella
me ayuda bastante en ese caso” (“Almost always they do it here [the after-school program],
because I do not read English and speak little, I always talk to the director of the afternoon and
she helps me a lot in that case.”). In this statement, Edilia acknowledged that she used the after-
school program as a resource for her children to complete the homework because she did not
believe she was efficacious to help her children due to her limited English abilities.
Juliana is another example of a parent who is Resourceful. Juliana also sought support
from others to help her children with the homework. Similar to Edilia, English was a barrier that
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 67
impeded her ability to support her children with homework and schoolwork. Juliana stated the
following:
La niña que está en cuarto ella
lo hace sola porque la verdad yo ya no
le puedo-- Para mí es más difícil
porque no sé el inglés. Pero la niña de
primero, yo necesito ayudarle y si no
le pido ayuda a mi hijo de 17 o a la
niña de cuarto. Ella me ayuda, ellos
me ayudan.
The girl who is in fourth she does it
alone because the truth I cannot
anymore ... For me it is more difficult
because I do not know English. But
the girl in first, I need to help her and
if not I ask my 17 year old son or the
girl in fourth grade.
Juliana also did not believe she had the ability to help her daughter in the fourth grade. Perhaps,
it was the rigor of the curriculum as she expressed “the truth I cannot anymore” when referring
to the daughter who is in the fourth grade. The idea that there is a decrease of parent
involvement as the grade level increases would be consistent with the literature as Green et al.
(2007) noted this in their study. They found that there was more involvement in elementary as
compared to middle school but there was a huge dip in involvement beginning in grade four for
both home-based involvement and school-based involvement (Green et al., 2007).
Practical parents depended on the school and the teachers to guide and support their
children’s homework completion. The Practical parents or parents with low self-efficacy would
defer to the school to assist with the homework. For example, Sophie explained, “If I don't know
something, I'll be like ‘You know what, leave it blank. Do the rest of your homework and leave
it blank. And you’ll tell the teacher you couldn't do it. They will help you.’”. The statement
provided insight to Sophie’s low level of efficacy when doing homework with her children and
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 68
relied on the teacher to help. When Sophie said, “tell your teacher you couldn’t do it. They will
help you” it demonstrated that she did not feel efficacious to help her child and would rely on the
school for the assistance. As evident in Sophie’s statement, Green et al. (2007) noted that
parents who are motivated but do not feel efficacious seek guidance from the school.
Jose is a second example of a Practical parent. Similarly, Jose attempted to help his son
with homework but when he was unable to support he reached out to the school. José stated, “I
try to explain to him, right? But if I see he’s not on that level, I come to school.” This statement
implied that Jose deferred to the school if his son was not able to complete the homework. He
further explained, “If I see he can’t do it at all with me, I’ll see if he can do it with mom.” As
seen with Jose’s example, Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005) noted that parents with lower self-
efficacy do not persist when faced with challenging tasks. For Jose, it was difficult to support
his child in homework and understood he needed the support from others and therefore, he did
what was practical for him, he reached out to get the support from the school.
Theme 2: Types of Interactions with Child
The types of interactions parents had with their children at home was related to the level
of self-efficacy regarding their ability to help their children academically. Confident parents had
interactions in which they were involved themselves with the academics. The Resourceful and
Practical parents were indirectly involved with their children at home.
Reyna, a Confident parent demonstrated a higher level of self-efficacy and the
interactions she had with her child were more intellectually stimulating. The discovery that the
activities are intellectually stimulating when parents are more efficacious is reflected in the
literature (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). The interaction she had with her child included
participating in completing class projects together. She stated,
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 69
Cuando hay proyectos nos ponemos a
hacerlo todos, el papá o yo. Hicieron
un proyecto el año pasado de las
misiones de aquí, decía mi niño,
“Mami, dice mi compañero que lo
podemos comprar”, le digo, “Es más
bonito hacerlo.” Nosotros lo hicimos,
compramos pues las cosas para
hacerlo, y todo. Después vinimos a la
exposición. Siempre tratamos de
ayudarlo en todo lo que es de la
escuela, comprarle lo que sea.
When there are projects we all work
on it, dad or me. They did a project
last year of the missions here, my
child said, “Mom, my partner says we
can buy it,” I say, “It's more beautiful
to do it.” We did it, we bought things
to do it, and everything. Then we
came to the exhibit. We always try to
help him in everything that involves
the school, to buy him whatever it is.
As demonstrated by Reyna’s statement, the interactions with her child involved the family unit,
the mom, dad and child. Participating in school projects and encouraging her son to build it
themselves showed that Reyna believed she was capable of supporting and guiding him
academically. When she stated, “siempre tratamos de ayudarlo en todo…” (‘We always try to
help him in everything…”) she demonstrated that she is not fearful of working on academic
projects and saw the interaction as enjoyable.
Parents who were Resourceful had interactions with their children in which they were not
as directly involved in academic activities with their children when compared to the Confident
parents but were present in other ways to provide the motivation, guidance and instilled in them
the value of education. The desire to be present is explained by Carreón, Drake and Barton
(2005) as parents who used their “resources to actively create practices of engagement” (p. 492).
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 70
For example, Edilia, a Resourceful parent, expressed that she wanted to be there to motivate and
encourage, thus placing a value in education. She stated,
Pues, estar ahí siempre. A veces, tal
vez, los niños no quieren pero uno
tiene que estar como dándoles la
empujadita para que ellos sigan y
animándolos, siempre motivándolos a
ellos.
Well, to be there always. Sometimes,
the children do not want it but one has
to be there giving them a push so they
can go on and encouraging them,
always motivating them.
Edilia constructed her role as a parent who was there physically for her child when she stated “to
be there always.” She was present and involved with her children by motivating and
encouraging them but not necessarily directly involved with them.
Luis expressed a similar sentiment, “Por ejemplo encaminarlo o decirle que tiene que ir
adelante, no tiene que parar” (“For example, showing him the way or telling him he needs to
move forward, that he doesn’t need to stop.”). By encouraging his children, Luis was instilling
in him the value of education and motivating him to persevere but it is also his way of being
actively involved with his child. Auerbach (2007) referred to this type of support as invisible
strategies, known as moral capital, which is foundational to student success. Bandura,
Barbaranelli, Caprara, and Pastorelli (1996) found that parents with low self-efficacy who cannot
provide the resources or academic skills instill a value of education.
The type of interactions Practical parents had with their children were related to what
parents knew, the knowledge they gained through their life experiences and passed down to their
children. In the literature, this type of knowledge is known as “funds of knowledge” (Gonzalez
& Moll, 2002). Sophie is an example of a Practical parent who relied on the school for academic
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 71
support but showed her daughter how to cook. As a Practical parent, Sophie’s interactions with
her children were less academic in nature but were based on her knowledge. In the following
statement, Sophie shared about teaching her daughter to cook,
I’m trying to teach them to cook. My daughter, she loves to cook. She's like “I need to
learn how to do this.” I'm like “Okay. Let's make quesadillas, something simple, like
quesadillas. Or let's make chicken.” We'll put ingredients. Now she knows how to cook
a little bit.
Sophie’s willingness to show her daughter how to cook reflected the idea that she wanted to
teach her daughter something she knew herself. When Sophie expressed how she taught her
daughter, one could hear her delight in explaining the process that she took to teach her. Sophie
is passing down the knowledge she has to her child. This type of interaction is not usually
recognized by schools as a typical parent involvement activity (Auerbach, 2007; Lopez, 2001).
Theme 3: Parent Interactions with the School
Creating a welcoming environment at schools is important to cultivating and encouraging
parent involvement in schools. The principal’s role and school personnel’s role is crucially
important in creating an environment where parents feel wanted and welcomed (Griffith, 2001;
Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). All of the parents in this study noted and described the school
climate with positive words. They enjoyed coming to the school and believed the principal was
doing a good job at the school. They believed they were valued and enjoyed participating in the
school. Approximately 30 % of the parents referred to the school as family and 100% of the
parents used positive words to describe the school climate such as welcoming, good, happy, and
excellent. Jose expressed the following when referring to the school, “When I come inside,
they’ve been so courteous and everything... I come in like if I'm one family.” Jose’s statement
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 72
demonstrated that he felt welcomed at the school and was part of the community when he
inferred that he was one of the family.
Creating a welcoming environment supports parent involvement in schools and makes
parents feel that it is a safe learning environment for their children. Luis expressed a similar idea
to Jose’s about the school being a family.
Me siento a gusto porque sé que
vengo, que viene siendo la segunda
casa de mi hijo.
Por ejemplo lo vengo a dejar yo, y me
siento como que vengo a mi segunda
casa yo también, porque aquí viene mi
hijo. Y yo en realidad estoy a gusto
porque mi hijo está aprendiendo.
I feel comfortable because I know that
I come, this has been my son's second
home.
For example I come to drop him off,
and I feel like I'm coming to my
second home too, because my son
comes here. And I'm really
comfortable because my son is
learning.
From Luis’s statement, we can see that he was comfortable at the school as he saw the school as
his second home for his son. He also implied that the school is providing a supportive
environment and complying with their responsibility of teaching the students because he
believed his son is learning when he stated, “I’m really comfortable because my son is learning.”
In order to demonstrate the importance of the role of the principal in creating a
welcoming environment, I have chosen to provide an excerpt from Reyna’s transcript that
showed how she felt prior to the current administration. Reyna expressed that prior to the
change of administration she was not as involved because she did not feel welcome. She stated,
Le voy a ser franca, desde que I will be frank, since the child started
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 73
el niño entró a primer año hasta cuarto
año que era otro director, la verdad no
me sentía muy bienvenida a la escuela,
porque hasta en la oficina el trato era
muy diferente, era un trato que tú
sentías como un rechazo. Entonces, yo
digo esto porque mi esposo intentó
entrar de voluntario a la escuela, y se
hizo perdidiza la aplicación, ¿me
entiende?
the first year through the fourth year
there was another principal, I really
did not feel very welcome at the
school, because even in the office the
treatment was very different, it was a
treatment that you felt as a rejection.
So, I say this because my husband
tried to volunteer for school, and the
application got lost, do you understand
me?
Reyna’s statement demonstrated that she sensed a rejection and felt unwelcomed with the former
administration which was impeding her involvement in the school. Evidently, the school now
has a well-established foundation to supporting parent involvement in schools by creating a
welcoming environment.
The school had structures in place that invited parents to participate in school. The
school kept the parents informed of the events at the school and did so by sending flyers home or
by making phone calls. Some of the activities were parent educational workshops, advisory
meetings, holiday programs, Coffee with the Principal and Doughnuts with Dad. As noted in
Carreon et al. (2005), these types of activities are usually controlled by the school and they are a
very traditional way of seeing parent involvement. The communication that existed with the
parents appeared unilateral as parents were receivers of information but they were not being
asked to provide input during the events.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 74
The following two sections describe the variation of parent involvement that existed
based on the parents’ expressed level of self-efficacy. Again, there are three levels of expressed
self-efficacy: Confident, Resourceful and Practical. There were similarities and differences
within each level of parent involvement. They are explained below:
Confident parent involvement. Within the parents who were in the confident level, the
frequency and type of parent involvement with the schools varied. The majority of these parents
did not participate or just recently started being involved at the school. This is consistent with
the literature as noted in Anderson and Minke (2007), efficacy did not predict involvement at
school. All of the parents attended parent conferences and would have additional conferences
with teachers depending on what needs the child had or if there were any concerns. All of the
parents were aware of the types of parent involvement opportunities the school offered. The way
in which the parents expressed themselves about parent involvement demonstrated that it was
important to them even though they may not be present at the school.
Resourceful and practical parent involvement. Almost all or the majority of the
parents in the Resourceful level were parents who volunteered in the parent center. These
parents believed it was important to support the school in their needs. Though they volunteered
at the school and spent many hours there, none of the parents had ever volunteered in the
classrooms. They participated in the school by going on fieldtrips as chaperones. Similar to the
Confident parents, the Resourceful parents all attended parent conferences and were aware of the
type of involvement opportunities the school offered. The school was reinforcing the parent role
to participate in activities that were non-academic.
The types of interactions parents had with the school were also connected to their level of
efficacy, as well as their belief and understanding of parent involvement. When the parents in
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 75
this study were asked to define parent involvement, there did not exist a common definition of
parent involvement. Every parent had a different interpretation of parent involvement. The fact
that there did not exist a uniform definition is consistent with the literature (Anderson & Minke,
2007). Reyna, however, beautifully described it as “Yo creo que es alguien que deja una huella,
algo especial en la vida de sus hijos que nunca lo van a olvidar” (I believe it is someone who
leaves a footprint, something special in the life of their children who will not be forgotten.”). It
is evident that Reyna’s statement demonstrated that parent involvement was something important
that would leave a mark in their children and make a difference in their lives. She chose the
word “huella” or “footprint” to refer to parent involvement as an imprint or mark, something that
will last in a child’s academic life. Confident parents defined parent involvement as being
actively involved with the school and knowing what was happening at the school; the
Resourceful parents perceived parent involvement as important and as a way to learn about the
functioning of the school; parents who were Practical viewed parent involvement as their way to
help the school. The way in which the parents defined parent involvement was how they were
involved with the school.
Accordingly, the interactions parents had with their children mirrored the interactions
they had with the school. Parents who were confident in their ability to help their child
academically were also certain of the type of interaction they expected to have with the school.
At the same time, the frequency of their involvement was less than Resourceful and Practical
parents. For example, parents who were Confident expected to be involved when there were
concerns about their children. Mia shared,
I think as a parent I want to be here like know what's happening. Why is it that she
doesn’t want to go to school, then I was told by my mom just let it go and you talked to
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 76
the teacher and let her deal with it. I think that was my struggle really because I wanted
to know what’s happening.
Mia perceived her role as a parent who needs to have an equal say regarding her daughter’s
concerns when she stated, “I want to know what’s happening.” Mia expressed how she struggled
with the decision she made not to get involved when her mother advised her to let the school
handle the problem her daughter was having at school.
Antonia, another parent who was confident with her involvement with the school did not
participate as much, however she chose to participate based on her child’s needs. She was aware
of the socio-emotional needs of her daughters and knew one needed more help than the other,
therefore, she differentiated her involvement based on her daughter’s needs so she met more
often with that particular child’s teacher. She explained, “Por lo regular con la maestra de mi
hija, la más pequeña, hablo más, porque mi hija es muy tímida, muy nerviosa” (“On a regular
basis, I speak more often with my daughter’s teacher because she is timid and very nervous.”)
Antonia’s comment showed that she was comfortable approaching the teacher whenever she
needed to know how her daughter was doing. It also demonstrated that she was aware of her
daughter’s needs when she stated, “…mi hija es muy timida” (“my daughter is too timid.”)
Antonia demonstrated she was confident in participating with the school because she did not wait
for the school to invite her before going in, she went when she needed to go to the school. This
role is consistent with the literature as it stated that parents with higher self-efficacy go to the
school when they need to go and do not wait to be invited (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997).
The parents with low to moderate self-efficacy, or the Resourceful parents, more so than parents
with high self-efficacy, the Confident parents, were parents who perceived their role in the
school as parents who were there to support the school and help in all of the school’s needs.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 77
They viewed the school as a resource and relied on their guidance, therefore, they gave back to
the school by supporting the school’s needs. Since these parents did not believe they could help
their children academically, they indirectly saw themselves as supporting their children by
supporting the needs of the school. The activities, however, did not seem to support the parents’
capacity to help their children academically. The school was reinforcing their role as parents
who were not collaborative partners by restricting their participation to non-academic school
activities.
The Confident, Resourceful and Practical parents all participated in ways in which they
provided services and support to the school. Antonia, a Confident parent shared,
Yo por lo regular asisto cuando los
niños tienen un paseo. Que me dicen,
“Hey, va a haber un paseo, ¿nos puedes
acompañar? Porque la maestra necesita
un ayudante.” Es a lo que más trato de
acompañar a mis hijas.
I usually attend when the kids have a
field trip. They tell me, “Hey, there's
going to be a field trip, can you come
with us? Because the teacher needs an
assistant.” That is what I try to
accompany my daughters most.
Even though Antonia demonstrated high self-efficacy with her children, at school her
involvement was limited to providing support in the form of being a chaperone. As she
expressed that going on field trips is what she tried to do the most, demonstrated that she
perceived her role in the school as someone who provided assistance.
Sophie is another example of a parent who has low self-efficacy but her involvement with
the school was demonstrated by providing assistance to the school or participating in holiday
programs.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 78
Christmas. I participated on Christmas, to dance, for the kids. On Halloween I like to
help too. There's a lot of things that we do here. Helping fixing the papers for the
homework for the kids. Anything that they need, we are right there for them, for the
teachers and the kids.
Sophie’s statement demonstrated that the parents are there to serve the school. The activities that
parents participated in are non-academic activities. As we can see from Sophie’s statement, they
participated in the Christmas and Halloween programs and helped to create homework packets.
The activities that the parents participated in were activities in which they were helping
the school out such as valet drop-off or putting packets together for the school. Carreón et al.
(2005) described and noted that this is common in schools. The parents are in service roles
instead of leadership roles; meaning that the school does not have collaborative practices where
parents are making decisions together with the school. Though the parents were content with the
activities they participated in at school and believed the school had a welcoming environment,
most of the activities they participated in were non-academic and did not necessarily help build
their capacity to support and interact productively with their child. The service role that parents
constructed was being reinforced by the school as the school was placing parents in helper roles.
The parents believed the school climate was welcoming and all of the parents were aware
of the parent involvement opportunities that existed. The parents expressed level of efficacy
dictated the interactions they had with their children and with the school. If parents believed
their level of efficacy was high then their interactions with their children were more elaborate
and in contrast, the parents who expressed a low to moderate level of efficacy had interactions
with their children that were more practical. At school, the parental interactions also varied
depending on their expressed level of efficacy. The Resourceful and Practical parents who
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 79
expressed low to moderate self-efficacy participated more often than parents who were confident
and expressed high self-efficacy. The parents who volunteered at the school, regardless of their
expressed level of efficacy supported the school by providing assistance to the school. Most of
the activities were non-academic and did not appear to build the capacity of the parents. The
following section will explain how the parents sought out the school for learning opportunities as
they believed the school would better prepare them to help their children and build their capacity
in their role as parents.
Finding 3: Redefining the Parent Role
Every parent demonstrated that they wanted to be better positioned to help their children
academically and improve their interactions with the school, therefore, they enacted their
roles by participating in the parent involvement opportunities the school offered,
regardless of the parental self-efficacy level.
The parents showed a willingness to increase their knowledge about the functions and
resources of the school by attending workshops that would improve their abilities to help their
children in order to be more actively involved and better equipped to make the decisions
regarding their children’s schooling. Many parents also expressed an interest to learn English so
that they can better support their children in school. One common thread with all parents
regardless of their level of efficacy is the idea that parents saw themselves as learners and wanted
additional knowledge to improve their self-efficacy. One hundred percent of the parents sought
the school as a place of learning and wanted to improve their skills. Lee and Bowen (2006)
noted that parents can gain information by attending meetings at school to help them with their
children. Doing so, would put parents in a position where they are better equipped to help their
children academically.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 80
Mia had high self-efficacy but still saw herself as a learner. She shared, “As a parent, I
think I’m learning because there’s different methods to get her to read or to get her to do
homework. It’s a struggle sometimes so I’m learning as I go.” Even though Mia was involved
with her daughter and believed she could help her with homework, she still believed it was a
struggle and wanted to learn more to support her daughter. Mia demonstrated a willingness to
learn more than what she already knew about the teaching and learning.
Parents who were on the Resourceful and Practical Level or had low to moderate self-
efficacy were more involved with the school. Approximately 50% of the parents volunteered in
the Parent Center and/or and all of these parents attended meetings or workshops held at the
school. They viewed their participation in the school-based activities as a way to enhance their
learning so that they can support their child academically. Edilia, who was in the middle of the
continuum, believed it was important to attend all of the school-based activities. She said,
Nos estan dando la oportunidad de
capacitarnos, para como educar a
nuestros hijos, como ayudarles a ellos.
…A todas es importante porque de
cada reunión algo nos llevamos nuevo.
Porque siempre dan avisos
importantes y pues, es que nos ayuda
mucho para nosotros.
They are giving us the opportunity
how to train ourselves, how to educate
our children, how to help them. …All
are important because at every
meeting we take with us something
new. Because they always give
important notices and that helps us a
lot.
Edilia viewed the workshops and participating at school as a learning opportunity to improve and
help the children when she stated “the opportunity to train ourselves.” Edilia asserted that there
is new learning that occurs at every meeting she attends when she stated “at every meeting we
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 81
take with us something new.” By Edilia’s statement, it is also implied that the school is a giver
of information and not necessarily a receiver of information when she stated, “siempre dan
avisos importantes…” (“They always give important notices…”). She did not mention that the
school is requesting her input.
Antonia who was also in the middle of the continuum believed that being involved at
school and attending meetings one learns something. She shared the following:
Y realmente uno aprende mucho
viniendo a juntas, sabiendo de las
necesidades en la escuela, conociendo
los casos, o que si hubo cualquier
evento, todo eso. Uno aprende mucho.
And you really learn a lot by coming
together, knowing the needs at school,
knowing the cases, or if there was any
event, all that. One learns a lot.
Antonia’s statement revealed that she believed the school is a place where parents can learn a lot
when she stated “Uno aprende mucho” (“One learns a lot.”). She perceived the meetings as
informative and useful to learning.
Sophie, who was at the lowest end of the continuum still wanted to learn more. She, like
the others shared, “I want to learn more so I can teach my kids.” Sophie’s statement
demonstrated that she wanted to build her self-efficacy in her ability to help her child
academically.
Evidently, all of the parents, irrespective of their expressed level of efficacy wanted to
improve their capacity in one way or another. Some parents wanted to learn more to help their
children academically and others wanted to learn English or learn more about the functions of
the school. The workshops and meetings that parents participated in at school were very
traditional forms of parent involvement. Based on the data collected and analyzed, there was no
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 82
evidence that parents were involved in or were asked for input in the decision-making process
regarding their children’s academic growth.
Conclusion
There were three findings that emerged after interviewing 10 Latino parents regarding
their perceptions about parent involvement and their role as parent in the academic life of their
child. In the first finding, it is evident that parents viewed their role and the school’s role as two
distinct roles as far as their responsibilities each one holds regarding the academic and schooling
of the children. Parents believed that their role regarding their children’s schooling was to teach
manners and respect, or in other words educación. They believed that the school’s responsibility
was to teach academics and the content areas. Although parents viewed their role and the
school’s role as two distinct roles, they still demonstrated that they wanted to be involved in the
academic life of their children. However, they deferred to the school as the experts in the
academic areas.
In the second finding, the parents demonstrated various levels of self-efficacy. There
were three distinct levels of self-efficacy identified, Confident, Resourceful and Practical. The
majority of the parents fell within the Resourceful level, these parents expressed that they did not
believe they were efficacious enough to help their children academically and therefore, they
reached out to others to help their children. The Confident parents expressed the highest level of
self-efficacy and had intellectually stimulating interactions with their children. The Practical
parents expressed the lowest self-efficacy and had interactions with their children that may not
be considered typical parent involvement.
The interactions the parents had with the school were parallel to the interactions they had
with their children. The parents who were confident determined when and how they chose to
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 83
participate with the school. The Resourceful and Practical parents viewed their interactions with
the school as a way to indirectly support their children as they supported the school based on the
needs of the school.
In the third finding, the parents demonstrated that they wanted to redefine their role and
position themselves to better serve their children and participate in the school in a higher level of
involvement. Every parent believed the school could help build their capacity regarding their
ability to help their children academically.
Although the parents were encouraged to participate and took advantage of the resources
the school had to offer, the activities in which they participated in did not necessarily help build
their self-efficacy or position them to better support their children academically. The school
reinforced their role as parents who were there to provide services to the school and did not quite
treat them as equal partners in the decision-making process. The implications and
recommendations for these findings will be addressed in the following chapter.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 84
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Parent involvement in schools has many benefits to student performance by improving
grades (Jeynes, 2007), decreasing drop-out rates (LeFevre & Shaw, 2012) and by improving
social behavior (Sheldon & Epstein, 2002). The problem of practice that was addressed in this
study is the low participation rates of Latino parents in schools. According to the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2012), Latino parents are less likely to participate in a
school related event and or volunteer in school. Latino parents are often perceived as non-
existent in the schools or having low parental involvement in the schools when they do not attend
school-based events (Guerra & Nelson, 2013; Lopez, 2001; Ramirez, 2003). It has been noted in
the literature that Latino parents are involved with their children in different ways that may not
be considered as traditional parent involvement in schools (Lopez, 2001).
The purpose of this study was to understand Latino parent involvement in schools. It
examined the way in which parents constructed their role regarding the academic life of their
children. It also explored the way in which the school supported or impeded their participation.
Using Clark and Estes (2008) conceptual framework, it further examined the parents’
perceptions regarding their knowledge, motivational elements and organization elements that
supported and impeded their participation in schools. This study was conducted as an effort to
increase parent involvement in schools and consequently increase student achievement
specifically English Language Learners in schools with low-socio economic status.
The participants in this qualitative study were 10 Latino parents whose children attended
an elementary school in a large urban school district. Interviews were conducted which lasted on
average 30 minutes each. The interviews followed a semi-structured approach. Maximum
variation sampling was used to select the participants of this study in order to create a diverse
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 85
sample of participants. The majority of the parents in this study were Latino immigrants; seven
or 70% originated from Mexico, two or 20% from El Salvador. There was only one parent born
in the United States. The length of time the parents have been living in the United States varied.
Seventy percent of the parents had been living in the United States between 10-20 years, one
parent had been living here for five years, another for 47 years and one parent had been living
here all of her life. There was a total of eight mothers and two fathers who participated in the
study. Each parent had at least one child in the elementary school where the study took place.
Seventy percent of their children were English Learners and 30% were either re-designated as
fluent English proficient or were English only students. The research question that guided this
study was:
1. What are Latino parents' beliefs about their role and the school's role in relation to their
involvement in their child's academic life?
The limitations of this study are that it focuses exclusively on Latino parents and no other
stakeholder group participated in this study. The sample of participants was also small. The
organizational elements were examined solely through the lens of the parent and the input of
other stakeholders was not considered. During the recruitment phase, an attempt was made to
include parents who were not already involved with the school, however, it was not possible to
have parents with limited school involvement participate in this study as all the parents recruited
with this criterion provided incorrect contact information. Lastly, I am a novice researcher and I
may not have recognized all of the opportunities to probe to get richer data.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 86
Summary of Findings
The key contributions of this study are the three findings that emerged from the data
collected and analyzed. The first finding demonstrated that Latino parents believed there was a
clear and distinct separation of responsibilities for the parents and the school regarding the
children’s schooling. The Latino parents saw their responsibility as educación, the teaching of
manners and respect and the school’s responsibility was teaching the academic content areas.
The parents still played a role in the academic life of their child but were more likely to entrust
the school with academic decisions regarding their child.
The second finding was in relation to the self-efficacy of the parents and the way in
which it influenced their role and interactions with their children and the interactions with the
school. There were three distinct levels expressed: Confident, Resourceful, and Practical. The
Confident parents expressed high self-efficacy, had interactions with their children that were
more intellectually stimulating and were confident with the interactions with the school. In the
middle of the continuum, the Resourceful parents expressed low to moderate self-efficacy and
reached out to the school or to others to support their child academically. On the other end of the
continuum were the Practical parents, their expressed self-efficacy was low. The interactions
they had with their children may not be recognized as typical parent involvement activities. The
school placed a great effort in creating a welcoming environment, however, the activities the
parents participated in were mostly non-academic activities which did not necessarily engage the
parents in building their capacity to interact with their children and the school in a way that
would enhance student academic growth.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 87
The third finding demonstrated that parents wanted to be better positioned to help their
children academically and used the resources the school had available to do so. The school was
the provider of information to the parents, however, there was no evidence of reciprocal learning.
The data gathered from the interviews with the parents can serve as information that
guides parent involvement in schools to inform practitioners, policymakers and researchers
whose goals are to increase parent involvement in schools and, consequently increase student
performance in schools.
The following section discusses the implications and recommendations that will help
build partnerships between the home and the school resulting in increased parent involvement in
schools. The common factor in all of the recommendations for practice and policy is the need to
have cultural competence of the individuals that we serve as well as cultural understanding of the
culture that we find ourselves in; meaning both the organization and its stakeholders have to
have mutual understanding of each other in order for the goals to be achieved.
Implications and Recommendations for Practice
Building Collaborative Partnerships through Cultural Competence
The first and most notable finding that emerged in this study is the idea of educación, the
teaching of good manners and respect as the parents’ responsibility. The concept of educación is
a prominent value in the Latino culture (Reese, Balzano, Gallimore, & Goldenberg, 1995). The
parents believed that the school had a responsibility to their children that differed from their
responsibility as parents. A division of labor is depicted by the parents’ beliefs that their
responsibility was to teach educación and the school’s responsibility was the academic content
areas. Many of the parents deferred to the school because they perceived the school as the
expert, it did not mean that they did not want to be involved in their child’s academic life but
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 88
rather, sought the school as a resource to help their children academically. The school reinforced
this division by the way in which the school made academic decisions regarding the children
without involving the parents in the process. The school took the lead in providing interventions
the students needed without getting the parents’ input in the process. The implication of this
finding is that both the school and the parents are working separately toward the same goal;
student achievement. Thus, the recommendation is to build collaborative partnerships between
the parent and the school in order to merge the two different roles by developing cultural
competence on both sides, the parents and the school. The role of the leader is critical when
attempting to merge two cultures who seemingly are working toward the same goal but have
different belief systems. The leader not only needs to be cognizant of internal factors but
external factors as well. Schein (2004) explained that the leader must know the other culture in
order to engage in activities that will provide understanding of their beliefs.
Cultural competence embraces the idea of respect, being appreciative and learning from
many cultures in a diverse society (Howard, 2010). Furthermore, Howard (2010) noted that one
important aspect of reaching cultural competence is by having an understanding of culture and its
complexities. In this study, the division of labor further implies the need to build cultural
competence between the school and the parents. The school leaders need to understand the
different ways that parents participate and the role they expect the school to take regarding their
children’s academic life. The parents need to understand that they are expected to participate in
school-related events. Research suggests that reflection is vital to reaching cultural competence
(Gay, 2003; Howard, 2010; Schein, 2004). Therefore, it is recommended that practitioners
engage in self-reflection to learn about their own ways of being and knowing in order to reach
cultural competence (Howard, 2010). Doing so, can help educators find out whether they hold
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 89
deficit-based notions of culturally diverse families. Helping educators explore their perceptions
would mean that systems must be in place to support the organization to achieve educators who
are self-reflective. An option would be to provide professional development to educators that
focuses on culturally responsive pedagogy, self-reflection and learning about our own culture
and that of others. Educators must be willing and committed to engage in the process of self-
reflection. Schein (2004) affirmed that “cultural understandings and cultural learning starts with
self-insight” (p. 418). Gay (2003) noted that it is difficult for practitioners to self-reflect because
usually people avoid analyzing their thoughts, assumptions and beliefs about racial and cultural
diversity in education.
The Latino parents will also need to build cultural competence and understand that in the
American context they are expected to participate in school-based activities. Otherwise, they
may be marginalized and portrayed as uninvolved. Using an ethnographic perspective,
Chrispeels and Rivero (2001) collected data over time to understand Latino families’ beliefs,
values and thoughts of their sense of place in their children’s education. The parents in their
study attended 8 workshops that stressed the importance of parent involvement in their child’s
future and provided guidance on how to support their children’s school success within an
American context (Chrispeels & Rivero, 2001). After participating in these workshops, parents
realized that it was not sufficient to simply have aspirations for their children but they realized
they needed to take a more active role in their children’s schooling. Parents became more
involved in school councils, volunteering and parents had expanded their concepts of
involvement. In this study, parents deferred academic decisions about their child to the school.
They believed the school was better positioned to provide the academic support. The schools
need to empower the parents to believe in their capacity to support their child academically and
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 90
help them understand that in the American context they will be expected to participate. In order
to increase cultural competence and have parents understand that they will be expected to
participate in school-based activities, I am recommending that upon enrollment, parents are
provided with a list of parent involvement opportunities offered at the school and should be
given a questionnaire that asks them how they would like to be involved at the school and to find
out how and what they would like to contribute to the school. The school needs to stress the
importance of parent involvement. This will help parents begin to understand the expectations of
the school system regarding parent involvement.
De Gaetano (2007) noted that “parents benefit as they become more knowledgeable and
more self-confident in their understanding of how schools function and about what happens
there” (p. 146). Parents need to be able to recognize when the school is not providing adequate
services for their children in order advocate for their children if the school fails to provide the
support needed for their children’s academic success. Parents need to be a part of the decision-
making process regarding their children’s academic growth and take collective action in unison
with the school. There was no evidence linking parents to the decision-making process in this
study regarding their children’s academic progress. Thus, the recommendation is to develop
parent leadership programs that will empower parents as leaders of the school who will be able
to recognize if the school falls short of their responsibility to support their children academically.
Bolivar and Chrispeels (2011) examined a parent leadership program which resulted in
parents coming together to solve shared community issues. The program embedded components
of Coleman’s (1998) theory of social capital. The parents who participated in Bolivar and
Chrispeels’ (2011) study trusted the instructor as well as the other participants. They also
understood their rights and learned the norms to approach school officials to gain information
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 91
regarding the school. In addition, the parents used their resources which resulted in collective
action. Therefore, I am recommending that the parent leadership program include ways in which
the parents can brainstorm together with the school areas that need improvement and collectively
work on the improvement projects. Doing so, will empower the parents to contribute to the
decision-making process as equal and collaborative partners. In De Gaetano’s (2007) work,
parents participated in a project in which they discussed issues of concern, and parents became
more aware and active about social issues that were affecting them and as a result felt more
empowered.
Implications and Recommendations for Policy
Building Self-Efficacy through Organizational and Cultural Change
Another important finding is that parents expressed different levels of self-efficacy
regarding their ability to help their child academically which influenced the interactions they had
with their children and with the school. Parents who expressed higher levels of self-efficacy
were more likely to have stimulating interactions with their children by asking them questions
regarding the curriculum. In addition, these parents’ interactions with the school varied in
relation to the amount of time they spent in school related activities and they were confident
helping their children without the school’s support. These findings are consistent with the
literature that suggests that a person with higher self-efficacy will be more effortful and more
active (Denler et al., 2006). In contrast, parents who expressed lower self-efficacy reached out to
the school for support and the interactions they had with their children were typically different
and may not be considered the type of parent involvement the school is expecting such as being
present when their children are doing homework or motivating and guiding their children to do
well in school. Again, this finding is consistent with the literature indicating that those with
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 92
lower self-efficacy are not likely to accomplish the task (Pajares, 2006). Many of the Latino
parents participated with their children in ways that may not be recognized as typical parent
involvement. As noted in Lopez (2001), parent involvement is usually perceived as
volunteering, participating in fundraisers, and/or attending back-to-school nights. Parents are
often seen as not being involved when they do not attend such events (Lopez, 2001; Ramirez,
2003). Usually, Latino parents are seen as deficient because they do not participate in the way
mainstream America expects them to participate (Lopez, 2001). The implication of this finding
is the need to build cultural understanding of the families we serve. As Freire (2005) stated,
educational programs will not thrive if there is no intention of understanding those who the
program is supposed to serve. Thus, the recommendation is to expand the definition of parent
involvement to include other forms of parent involvement so that practitioners learn to have
acceptance and understanding about the different ways that parents participate and are engaged
with their children which may not be considered traditional parent involvement. De Gaetano
(2007) defined and described this type of parent involvement as informal ways of parental
participation which included providing quiet time, helping with homework, engaging in
discussions, folding laundry or putting away groceries. Lopez (2001) noted that schools should
identify ways in which involvement is already occurring and capitalize on that involvement. As
noted in Kim (2009) “understanding the nature of minority parental involvement will lead to a
more collaborative partnership” (p. 92). As practitioners and policymakers, we cannot continue
to simply push for mere school-based involvement, but rather understand that parents participate
in their children’s lives in various and meaningful ways. De Gaetano (2007) stressed that if we
want to reach parents as partners, we must celebrate, understand and emphasize their culture,
ethnicity and language, hence cultural competence.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 93
Moreover, according to Smith, Wohlstetter, Kuzin, and De Pedro (2011), parent
involvement can fall on a continuum and keeping parents informed is at one end of the
continuum, in the middle of the continuum parents are involved with activities at home and at
school that support student learning and at the other end, parents are engaged in the educational
program and in setting and implementing policy. The parents in this study expressed that the
school had a welcoming environment that supported their parent involvement. The parents were
involved by being kept informed and by involving themselves in activities at home and at school
with their children. When the parents discussed the climate of the school they described it as
good, excellent, and happy. Parents had a sense of being part of a family. As noted in the
literature, a welcoming environment and communication enhances parent involvement in schools
(Thomas-Duckwitz, Hess & Atcherly, 2013). Thomas-Duckwitz et al. (2013) found that parents
were encouraged to come to the school when they were greeted in a friendly manner and asked
how they could be helped by the front office staff. Thus, the recommendation is to continue to
provide a welcoming environment at the school by greeting parents and responding to their
needs/questions and/or concerns.
The school’s welcoming environment motivated parents to participate at the school
through either volunteering or attending the workshops and/or meetings. Most of the parents that
volunteered did so in positions that were in service roles such as valet drop-off parking, dancing
in holiday programs or putting packets together. These activities were not supporting their
ability to understand their rights as parents or build their capacity to better support their child at
home. Hurtig (2008) noted that schools usually reinforce parents in subservient roles rather than
providing opportunities in which they can engage in creative and meaningful ways. The
implications of this finding are that the schools are not embracing the contributions that parents
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 94
can provide the school. Thus, it is recommended that the organization strive to make the
partnerships with the parents as equal partners and not place them in roles that are subservient,
but rather engage them in innovative ways, such as a shared writing project. Inspired by
Hurting’s (2008) Community Writing and Research Project, where the Latino parents in school
created a magazine with their personal stories drawing on their experiences and wisdom, the
school leader can engage both the parents and teachers in a similar project where they can share
their struggles, aspirations and vision for the school as this will allow them to build trust with
each other. Doing so, will help parents build trust within the group and together, they can work
toward resolving a school community issue. This recommendation will allow to what Freire
(2005) referred to as individuals becoming beings for themselves in a changing structure that
does not simply integrate them. It is important to build a structure which does not just simply
invite parents to participate in school-based activities but rather encourages parents to engage in
the school in productive and creative ways that will better position them to help their children
academically.
The parents in this study were kept informed of the activities at the school through
various forms of communication such as flyers or phone calls. As noted in the literature, Kim
(2009) noted that parents preferred various methods of communication and informal methods of
communication such as face-to-face meetings and or telephone calls and not just written forms of
communication. Therefore, the recommendation is for the school to continue to use the various
forms of communication to reach out to the parents. This will help improve parent-school
communication gap (Mushtaq, et al., 2012).

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 95
Building Knowledge and Skills through Mutual Learning
One last and notable finding is that parents were redefining their role by participating in
the parent involvement opportunities offered by the school because they wanted to be better
positioned to help their children academically and improve their interactions with the school. All
of the parents, irrespective of their expressed level of efficacy perceived the school as a place of
learning and were willing participants in the school-based activities provided by the school.
Their willingness to participate in the school-based activities demonstrated the expectancy value
parents held as they actively chose to participate in the activities to reach the long-term goals for
their children. According to Rueda (2011) one is more likely to place more effort and
persistence in the activity when one has a high expectancy value. It is also possible that parents
chose to participate because they saw themselves more knowledgeable with educación and they
wanted to enhance their skills in the academic realm in order to support their children
academically. Thus, the school should continue to provide workshops or refer parents to
workshops offered in the community where parents learn how to best help their children at home
and learn about child development.
The parents were kept informed of the activities that were happening at the school such
as parent workshops, meetings or holiday programs. The school was the provider of information
for the parents. Though it is expected that the school share information with parents, the
implication is that there is no reciprocity of learning happening between home and school. The
parents are not perceived as contributors of information and/or knowledge, only receivers of that
information. This happens to no fault of their own as both the organization and the parents have
been socialized to take on this role. This idea is what Freire (2005) referred to as the “banking”
concept of education where the teacher is the possessor of all knowledge and the students are the
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 96
receivers. This type of approach if accepted by the learner, merely helps them adapt to a
fragmented view of reality (Freire, 2005). Both the school leaders and the parents have to
redefine the role that they have been socialized into. Thus, the recommendation is to build a
culture in which there is reciprocity of learning; where schools and parents are sharing
information with each other and both are learning from each other. Gonzalez and Moll (2002)
described this as mutually educative, meaning both the families and the schools should be
learning from each other. In the study conducted by Gonzalez and Moll (2002), teachers went
into households to learn to understand ways in which people make sense of their everyday lives.
Furthermore, Gonzalez and Moll (2002) found that through the process of ethnographic
interviewing households and schools found new ways of communicating and that parents who
were resistant to participate in the classrooms were more willing to do so when they saw the
genuine interest from the teacher in their families and their skills. Using the “funds of
knowledge” approach, practitioners can learn from the households by using the knowledge they
learn and bringing it back into the classroom and can help facilitate an increase in cultural
understandings. Doing so, requires a shift in the way in which parents are perceived from a
deficit perspective to a strength-based perspective (Orozco, 2008). Mutual learning can assist
with establishing cultural competence and establishing a value-laden perspective. Howard
(2010) stated that when teachers acknowledge that students bring their own unique skill sets and
knowledge, a relationship can be established that promotes reciprocal teaching and learning
across different content and contexts.
Implications and Recommendations for Research
Data revealed the beliefs and perceptions Latino parents have regarding their role in the
academic life of their child and their experiences and interactions they had with the school. The
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 97
data included parents who had varying degrees of parent involvement in schools and were
willing participants in the study. Research was needed to gain an understanding of how Latino
parents are actively involved in the academic life of their child. Further research is needed to
gain a perspective from parents who are not as actively involved in the schools and parents who
become less involved as their children get older. The recommendation is to conduct an
ethnographic study to determine what causes parent involvement to decrease as the years pass.
In addition, the factors influencing self-efficacy should be an area of further study.
One of the limitations of this study is that it only had one perspective, Latino parents. It
is suggested that a study be conducted which includes the perspective of all stakeholders
including principals, and teachers. Principals and teachers can provide insight on the ways in
which they promote and/or impeded parent involvement and as such bridge everyone’s efforts
toward the goal of student achievement.
Conclusion
This study documented the beliefs of Latino parents regarding their role in their child’s
academic life and the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements they believed impacted
their experiences with the school. Implications and recommendations for practice, policy and
research were developed through the data analysis and findings in this study. The implications
for practice suggest the following:
1) Build collaborative partnerships that merge the school and the parents’ role by
developing cultural competence for both the parent and educators.
2) Provide professional development to educators on culturally responsive pedagogy and
engage them in self-reflection.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 98
3) Upon enrollment, parents should be informed of the parent involvement opportunities
offered, asked how they would like to be involved and what they can contribute. The
school should stress the importance of participating in the parent involvement
opportunities.
4) Create parent leadership programs that empower parents as leaders where both the
school and parents can collectively work on school improvement projects.
The implications for policy suggest the following:
1) Expand the definition of parent involvement to include other forms of involvement
that are not only traditional.
2) Continue to provide a welcoming environment by greeting parents and addressing
their needs/questions and/or concerns.
3) School leaders need to strive for partnerships where parents and teachers are engaged
in an innovative fashion such as a shared writing project. The project should include
personal stories about their struggles, aspirations and visions of the schools so that
together they build trust and can take collective action.
4) Continue to use various forms of communication to encourage and enhance parent
involvement.
5) Continue to provide workshops or refer parents to workshops offered in the
community focusing on child development and how parents can help their child at
home.
6) Using the “funds of knowledge” approach, build a culture of mutual learning by
understanding that parents come with knowledge that as educators we can learn from
and use in the classroom.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 99
The implications for research suggest the following:
1) Conduct an ethnographic study to determine what causes parent involvement to
decrease as the years pass as well as study the factors influencing self-efficacy
beliefs.
2) Conduct a study which includes the perspective of all stakeholders including
principals, and teachers.
The findings, implications and recommendations are provided to improve understanding
of Latino parent involvement in schools and consequently increase student achievement in
schools with low socio-economic status.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 100
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APPENDIX A
Interview Protocol
Thank you for agreeing to meet me today. This interview will help me gather
information regarding the beliefs of Latino parents regarding their participation in the academic
life of their children. I hope that the information you provide me today will be very useful in
gaining a better understanding of how parents are involved with their children and how the
school can help support your involvement. I would like to remind you that you do not need to
answer any question you don’t want to, you can skip any question. The interview will also be
recorded so that I can review the data and include the information in my dissertation. Do you
have any questions before we begin?
I would like to start off by asking you a few questions about your children and natural
origin. This will help me understand your family.
Demographics/Background
1. How many children do you have in school?
2. What are their ages?
3. What is your home country of origin? Skip to question 5 if born in the USA.
4. How long have you been living in the United States?
Now, I would like to ask you some questions about your experience with school events.
School-Based Activities
5. How many school events do you attend every year?
6. Tell me about the school events you have attended this year.
a. How did you decide to attend?
b. How did you find out about the event?
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c. Describe what you did when you were at the event.
d. With the people that you interacted with, can you tell me about their behaviors?
7. Which events, if any do you think are important to attend?
8. Are there certain events that the school has that are easier for you to attend? If so, what
makes it easier to attend?
9. Are there certain events that the school has that make it difficult for you to attend? If so, what
makes them harder to attend?
The following questions are about the school’s communication regarding school-based
activities and the school’s environment.
10. What is your preferred method of communicating with the school?
11. What events does the school invite you to attend?
a. How do you hear about events that are happening at the school?
b. How do you decide if you are going to attend those events?
12. What kind of relationship do you have with your child’s teacher?
a. Would you describe it to me?
b. How often do you talk with him/her?
13. What kind of relationship do you have with the principal?
a. When do you talk with the principal?
14. Are there any documents that you’ve received from the school that have helped you know
what is going on at the school?
a. Would you tell me about those documents (Flyers, letters, other pieces of paper
with information about what is happening at the school)
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b. Would you share one with me if it is something that helped you decide to become
involved at school?
15. Tell me how you feel when you visit the school.
a. Do you enjoy being there?
b. Do people talk to you? Do you talk to others?
16. When you walk in the office, what happens?
a. Who do you usually talk to?
b. What do those conversations do you have?
17. Can you give me one word that would describe the climate of the school?
18. Describe how it feels when you attend a school based activity.
19. Tell me about a recent activity you attended/participated in. For example, did you enjoy
being there?
a. What did you learn?
b. How, if at all, did it help you with your child?
20. When you talk with people at the school, what language do you speak (Spanish or English)?
21. Tell me about a time when you struggled to communicate with someone at the school.
a. What happened?
22. Tell me about a time when it was really easy for you to communicate with someone at the
school.
a. How often is it easy for you?
b. How often is it hard for you?

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The following questions are about the resources available at the school to help your child
succeed.
23. When your child is having a hard time at school, what do you do?
a. Who do you talk to?
b. What does that person do?
c. Was the problem resolved?
24. When your child is having a hard time with his/her teacher, what do you do?
25. When you need help with a problem, who do you talk to?
26. Describe a time when you went to the school for help and the school helped you.
a. What happened?
27. Describe a time when you went to the school for help and you were not able to get help.
28. Tell me about your experience with parent conferences this year.
a. Did you learn anything new about your child?
Now, I am wondering if you could tell me about your role as a parent and how you support your
child with his progress.
The Role of the Parent
29. How would you describe yourself as a parent?
30. What does parent involvement mean to you?
a. What does it look like?
31. A parent who is involved in their child’s academic life is someone who….[fill-in the blank]

32. Tell me about your routine when your child gets home from school.
a. What would I see or hear between you and your child?
33. When does your son/daughter do his/her homework?
34. Who does your child ask for help when he/she is having trouble with his/her homework?
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35. What do you do when your son/daughter is having a hard time in a subject?
36. Tell me about a recent experience when your child was having a hard time with homework.
a. What happened?
b. Walk me through it.
37. What do you do when your child is not excited about school?
38. Tell me about a recent time when your child didn’t feel like going to school.
a. What happened?
b. What did you do?
c. Did anyone at the school help you?
39. How do you help your child at home with school work?
a. Does your child complete homework independently?
b. How much support do you provide your child with homework?
40. What would you say is the most important job for you as a parent regarding your child’s
academic life?
41. What do you think is most important for you to teach your child?
42. What would be an example of something you taught your child? Tell me about it (the
experience of teaching your child).
43. What, if anything, do you think is your responsibility to teach your child?
44. What do you think is the school’s responsibility to teach your child?
45. Tell me something you teach your child that is not taught at school.
46. Tell me about a time you spent in your child’s classroom. What happened?
47. What are your goals for your daughter/son?
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48. Tell me about a time when you wanted to help your child (son or daughter) with a problem
he/she was having in school and you couldn’t help.
a. Describe the experience for me.
49. Tell me about things you would like to do better as a parent.
50. Is there anything else you might want to add regarding your experience with school or about
your child?

Thank you so much for your time today. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you may
have any questions or if there is something else you would like to add.

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Protocolo de Entrevista
Gracias por aceptar reunirme hoy. Esta entrevista me ayudará a recopilar información sobre las
creencias de los padres latinos con respecto a su participación en la vida académica de sus hijos.
Espero que la información que usted me proporcione hoy sea muy útil para entender mejor cómo
los padres están involucrados con sus hijos y cómo la escuela puede ayudar a apoyar su
participación. Me gustaría recordarle que no necesita responder a ninguna pregunta que no
quiera, puede omitir cualquier pregunta. La entrevista también será grabada para que pueda
revisar los datos e incluir la información en mi estudio. ¿Tiene alguna pregunta antes de
comenzar?

Me gustaría comenzar preguntándole algunas preguntas sobre sus hijos y su origen natural.
Esto me ayudará a comprender a su familia.
1. ¿Cuántos niños tiene en la escuela?
2. ¿Cuáles son sus edades?
3. ¿En qué país nació? (Pase a la pregunta 5 si nació en los Estados Unidos)
4. ¿Cuanto tiempo lleva en los USA?
Ahora, me gustaría hacerle preguntas sobre su experiencia en eventos escolares.
School Based Activities/Actividades Escolares
5. ¿Cuántos eventos escolares asiste cada año?
6. Cuénteme de los eventos escolares que ha participado este año.
a. ¿Cómo decidio asistir?
b. ¿Cómo se dió cuenta del evento?
c. Describa lo que hizo cuando estaba alli.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 120
d. ¿Que me puede decir sobre los comportamientos de las personas con quien usted
interactuo?
7. ¿Cuales eventos son importantes para asistir?
8. ¿Hay eventos cuales son muy facil para asistir? Que lo hace facil?
9. ¿Hay eventos escolares que se le hace dificil attender? Porque se le hace dificil?
Las siguientes preguntas son sobre la comunicacion y el ambiente escolar
10. ¿Cuál es su método preferido para comunicarse con la escuela?
11. ¿A cuales eventos los invita la escuela?
a. ¿Como se da cuenta de los eventos escolares?
b. ¿Como decidio asistir esos eventos?
12. ¿Cómo es su relación con el maestro de su hijo/a?
a. Describamela.
b. ¿Cada cuanto habla con el maestro?
13. ¿Cómo es su relación con el director?
a. ¿Cuándo habla con el director?
14. ¿Hay documentos que recibio de la escuela que le han ayudado ha saber lo que ocurre en la
escuela?
a. ¿Qué me puede decir de esos documentos? (flyers, cartas u otros papeles)
b. ¿Tiene alguno para compartir que le ayudo en su decision para participar en la escuela?
15. Cuénteme como se siente cuando visita la escuela.
a. ¿Le gusta estar aqui?
b. ¿Le habla la gente? ¿Usted habla con los demas/otros?
16. ¿Cuándo usted entra en la oficina que pasa?
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 121
a. ¿Con quién habla?
b. ¿Qué conversaciones tiene?
17. Deme una palabra que describe el ambiente escolar.
18. Describa como se siente cuando asiste a una actividad escolar.
19. Cuénteme sobre una actividad que asistio recientemente. Le gusto estar alli?
a. ¿Qué aprendio?
b. ¿Como le ayudo con su hijo/a?
20. ¿En que lenguaje habla con la gente en la escuela? (inglés o español)
21. Dígame de alguna vez donde le costo comunicarse con alguien en la escuela
a. ¿Qué paso?
22. Dígame de alguna vez que fue muy facil comunicarse con alguien en la escuela
a. ¿Con qué frecuencia es facil?
b. ¿Con qué frecuencia es difícil?
Las siguiente preguntas son de los recursos que tiene la escuela para ayudar le a su hijo/a
23. ¿Qué hace ud. cuando su hijo/a tiene dificultades en la escuela?
a. ¿Con quién habla?
b. ¿Qué hace esa persona?
c. ¿Le resolvierón el problema?
24. ¿Qué hace cuando su hijo/a tiene dificultades con la maestro?
25. ¿Si necesita ayuda con un problema, con quien habla?
26. Describa una vez cuando fue a la escuela por ayuda y la escuela le ayudo.
a. ¿Qué paso?
27. Describa una vez cuando fue a la escuela por ayuda y no recibió ayuda.
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 122
28. Cuenteme sobre su experiencia con las conferencias de padres este año.
a. ¿Aprendio algo nuevo de su hijo/a?
Ahora me puede contar sobre su papel como padre y como usted apoya el progreso de su hijo/a
29. Como se describiria usted como un padre?
30. ¿Qué significa para usted la participación de los padres?
a. ¿Cómo se ve?
31. Complete la oración: Un padre que participa en la vida académica de su hijo/a es alguien
quien….
32. Cuénteme sobre la rutina que tiene su hijo/a al llegar a casa.
a. ¿Qué podría ver u oir yo entre usted y su hijo/a?
33. ¿Cuándo hace la tarea su hijo/a?
34. ¿A quién le pide ayuda su hijo/a cuando tiene dificultades con la tarea?
35. ¿Qué hace si su hijo/a tiene dificultades en alguna materia?
36. Cuenteme de alguna experiencia reciente donde su hijo/a tuvo dificultades con la tarea?
a. ¿Qué paso?
b. Expliquemelo.
37. Que hace si su hijo/a non esta motivado para la escuela?
38. Cuénteme acerca de un momento reciente en que su hijo/a no tenía ganas de ir a la escuela
a. ¿Qué paso?
b. ¿Qué hizo usted?
c. ¿Le ayudó alguien en la escuela?
39. ¿Cómo le ayuda usted a su hijo/a con el trabajo escolar?
a. ¿Hace su hijo/a la tarea independiente?
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 123
b. ¿Cuanta ayuda le presta usted?
40. ¿Cuál diría usted que es el trabajo más importante como padre con respecto a la vida
académica de su hijo?
41. ¿Qué cree que es más importante para usted enseñarle a su hijo?
42. ¿Cuál sería un ejemplo de algo que le enseñó a su hijo? Cuénteme (sobre la experiencia de
enseñar a su hijo/a).
43. ¿Qué cree que es su responsabilidad de enseñarle a su hijo?
44. ¿Cuál cree que es la responsabilidad de la escuela de enseñar a su hijo/a?
45. Dígame algo que le enseña a su hijo/a que no se enseña en la escuela.
46. Cuénteme de un tiempo que paso en el aula de su hijo/a. ¿Que pasó?
47. ¿Cuáles son sus metas para su hija / hijo?
48. Cuénteme acerca de un momento en el que usted quería ayudar a su hijo (hijo o hija) con un
problema que estaba teniendo en la escuela y no podía ayudar.
a. Describa la experiencia para mí.
49. Dígame que le gustaría hacer mejor como padre.
50. ¿Hay algo más que le gustaría agregar con respecto a su experiencia con la escuela o con su
hijo/a?
Muchas gracias por su tiempo hoy. Por favor, no dude en ponerse en contacto conmigo si usted
tiene alguna pregunta o si hay algo más que le gustaría añadir.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 124
APPENDIX B
Informed Consent/Information Sheet
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4033

INFORMED CONSENT/INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

A GAP ANALYSIS OF LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLS
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Doramanda Higuchi,
Doctoral Candidate, under the supervision of the Faculty Advisor, Julie Slayton, PhD., at the
University of Southern California, because you are a Latino parent whose child attends
elementary school. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information below, and
ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to participate.
Please take as much time as you need to read the consent form. You may also decide to discuss
participation with your family or friends. You can keep this form for your records.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to understand the experience Latino parents have in schools
with parent involvement and the reasons why they are involved in school and reasons why they
are not involved. It will also gain an understanding of how Latino parents view their role in the
academic life of their child.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 125
STUDY PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to take part in one formal,
semi-structured interview regarding your experience with school. The questions will be open-
ended and center around your beliefs about parent involvement. These meetings can be
scheduled at locations and times of convenience to you, and can be conducted in person, over the
phone or over the Internet according to your preference, and are anticipated to last about an hour.
The interviews will be audio-recorded with your permission; if you don’t want to be audio-
recorded, handwritten notes will be taken.
As part of the interview procedures, you may be asked to share documents with the researcher,
such as school notices, invitations to school events or school flyers.
Interviews will last approximately 1 hour.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks in participating in this study. You may feel discomfort answering
questions.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You may not directly benefit from your participation in this study—although you may
gain insight on your beliefs regarding parent involvement. This study may benefit society in
identifying and gaining insight into parent involvement factors that support or impede parent
involvement in schools.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain
confidential. Recordings of the interviews will be transcribed by a professional transcription
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 126
service. The data will not be maintained by that service; it will be transcribed then returned to
the researcher.
The data, including identifiers, audio recordings and transcriptions will be stored on a
password protected computer in a shared Dropbox folder. This is called “raw data.” The
researcher and the faculty advisor will have access to the raw data in the Dropbox folder, and if
you would like to see your raw data, you will be given access to it.
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human
Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors
research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
When the results of the research are published, discussed in conferences, or with the
school/school district no identifiable information will be used. In this study, all data will be kept
confidential to ensure that the participants do not face any ramifications. Fictitious names will
be used so that no identifying data can be linked back to the participants.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your participation is voluntary. Your decision whether or not to participate will involve
no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your
consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty. You are not waiving any legal
claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this research study.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate in this study; your relationship with USC, your child’s
school or your employer will not be affected, whether or not you participate in this study.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 127
INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact the Principal
Investigator, Doramanda Higuchi., via phone at (213) 610-1498; email at dhiguchi@usc.edu or
using the address at the top of this document.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu

Print Name_________________________Signature___________________________Date____________________

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 128
Consentimiento Informado/Hoja de Datos

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4033

CONSENTIMIENTO INFORMADO/HOJA DE DATOS PARA INVESTIGACIONES
CON EXCEPCIÓN QUE NO SON MÉDICAS

UN ANÁLISIS DE LAS DEFICIENCIAS DE LA PARTICIPACIÓN DE LOS
PADRES LATINOS EN LAS ESCUELAS
Usted está invitado a participar en un estudio de investigación realizado por Doramanda
Higuchi, Candidata Doctoral, bajo la supervisión de Julie Slayton, PhD., De la Universidad del
Sur de California, porque usted es un padre latino cuyo hijo asiste a la escuela primaria. Su
participación es voluntaria. Debe leer la siguiente información y hacer preguntas sobre cualquier
cosa que no entienda, antes de decidir si participará. Tómese todo el tiempo necesario para leer el
formulario de consentimiento. También puede decidir discutir la participación con su familia o
amigos. Puede guardar este formulario para sus registros.
PROPÓSITO DEL ESTUDIO
El propósito del estudio es entender la experiencia que los padres latinos tienen en las
escuelas con la participación de los padres y las razones por las que están involucrados en la
escuela y las razones por las que no están involucrados. También obtendrá una comprensión de
cómo los padres latinos ven su papel en la vida académica de su hijo.
PROCEDIMIENTOS DEL ESTUDIO
Si se ofrece voluntariamente para participar en este estudio, se le pedirá que participe
en una entrevista formal semi-estructurada con respecto a su experiencia con la escuela. Las
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 129
preguntas serán abiertas y se centrarán en torno a sus creencias acerca de la participación de los
padres. Estas reuniones se pueden programar en lugares y horas de conveniencia para usted, y se
pueden realizar en persona, por teléfono o por Internet según su preferencia y tomaran una hora.
Las entrevistas serán grabadas en audio con su permiso; Si usted no desea ser grabado audio, las
notas manuscritas serán tomadas.
Las entrevistas durarán aproximadamente 1 hora.
RIESGOS POTENCIALES E INCOMPATIBLES
No hay riesgos previstos en participar en este estudio. Usted puede sentir molestias respondiendo
preguntas.
BENEFICIOS POTENCIALES A LOS PARTICIPANTES Y / O A LA SOCIEDAD
Es posible que usted no se beneficie directamente de su participación en este estudio,
aunque puede obtener información sobre sus creencias con respecto a la participación de los
padres. Este estudio puede beneficiar a la sociedad en la identificación y la comprensión de los
factores de participación de los padres que apoyan o impiden la participación de los padres en las
escuelas.
CONFIDENCIALIDAD
Cualquier información identificable obtenida en relación con este estudio permanecerá
confidencial. Las grabaciones de las entrevistas serán transcritas por un servicio de transcripción
profesional. Los datos no serán mantenidos por ese servicio; Será transcrita y luego devuelta a
mí.
Los datos, incluidos los identificadores, las grabaciones de audio y las transcripciones,
se almacenarán en un equipo protegido mediante contraseña en una carpeta compartida de
Dropbox. Esto se llama "datos sin procesar". El investigador y el asesor de la facultad tendrán
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 130
acceso a los datos sin procesar en la carpeta de Dropbox, y si usted quisiera ver sus datos sin
procesar, usted tendrá acceso a él.
Los miembros del equipo de investigación y el Programa de Protección de Sujetos
Humanos (HSPP) de la Universidad del Sur de California pueden acceder a los datos. El HSPP
revisa y monitorea los estudios de investigación para proteger los derechos y el bienestar de los
sujetos de la investigación.
Cuando los resultados de la investigación sean publicados o discutidos en conferencias
o con la escuela/distrito escolar, no se utilizará información identificable. En este estudio, todos
los datos serán mantenidos confidenciales para asegurar que los participantes no enfrentan
ninguna ramificación. Se utilizarán nombres ficticios para que no se puedan vincular los datos de
identificación con los participantes.
PARTICIPACIÓN Y RETIRO
Su participación es voluntaria. Su decisión de participar o no participar no implicará
ninguna penalidad o pérdida de beneficios a los cuales usted tiene derecho. Usted puede retirar
su consentimiento en cualquier momento y suspender la participación sin penalización. Usted no
está renunciando a reclamaciones legales, derechos o recursos debido a su participación en este
estudio de investigación.
ALTERNATIVAS A LA PARTICIPACIÓN
Su alternativa es no participar en este estudio; Su relación con su empleador no se verá
afectada, ya sea que participe o no en este estudio.

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 131
INFORMACIÓN DE CONTACTO DEL INVESTIGADOR
Si tiene alguna pregunta o inquietud acerca de la investigación, por favor comuníquese con la
investigadora principal, Doramanda Higuchi., Por teléfono al (213) 610-1498; Correo electrónico
en dhiguchi@usc.edu o usando la dirección en la parte superior de este documento.
DERECHOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN PARTICIPANTE - INFORMACIÓN DE
CONTACTO DEL IRB
Si tiene preguntas, inquietudes o quejas sobre sus derechos como participante en la investigación
o la investigación en general y no puede ponerse en contacto con el equipo de investigación, o si
desea hablar con alguien independiente del equipo de investigación, comuníquese con University
Park Institutional Junta de Revisión (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street # 301, Los Ángeles, CA
90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 o upirb@usc.edu

Nombre_________________________Firma___________________________Fecha_________

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 132
APPENDIX C
Recruitment Script
Hello, my name is Doramanda Higuchi. I am a doctoral student at the University of
Southern California. As part of my dissertation, I am conducting a research study on Latino
parent involvement in schools. I am inviting you to participate because you are a Latino parent
whose child, or children, attend an elementary school. I would like to know more about your
experience with the school and the reasons why you participate in school events. Your
participation is voluntary. Your relationship, or your child’s relationship with the school will not
be affected, whether or not you choose to participate in the study.
If you choose to participate, you will be asked a series of questions during an audio-taped
interview that will be about 45-60 minutes long. You do not have to answer any question you do
not want to. All of the information I collect will be confidential. If you would like to review the
transcripts (the audio tapes are transcribed/written up), they will be available for you after the
interview is transcribed.
I will be the principal investigator of this study and will be asking you the questions
during the interview. My goal is to improve parent involvement and your experience might help
me determine how the school may best support your needs.
If you have any questions, you may contact me at 213-610-1498 or dhiguchi@usc.edu

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 133
Reclutamiento
Hola, me llamo Doramanda Higuchi. Soy estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad del
Sur de California. Como parte de mi tesis, estoy realizando un estudio de investigación sobre la
participación de los padres latinos en las escuelas. Le invito a participar porque usted es un
padre latino cuyos hijos, o niños, asisten a una escuela primaria. Me gustaría saber más sobre su
experiencia con la escuela y las razones por las que participa en eventos escolares. Su
participación es voluntaria. Su relación, o la relación de su hijo con la escuela no se verá
afectada, ya sea que usted decida o no participar en el estudio.
Si decide participar, se le hará una serie de preguntas durante una entrevista grabada en
audio que tendrá unos 45-60 minutos de duración. No tiene que responder a ninguna pregunta
que no quiera. Toda la información que recojo será confidencial. Si desea revisar las
transcripciones (las cintas de audio son transcritas / escritas), estarán disponibles para usted
después de la transcripción de la entrevista.
Seré el investigador principal de este estudio y le haré las preguntas durante la entrevista.
Mi objetivo es mejorar la participación de los padres y su experiencia podría ayudarme a
determinar cómo la escuela puede apoyar mejor sus necesidades.
Si tiene alguna pregunta, puede ponerse en contacto conmigo al 213-610-1498 o
dhiguchi@usc.edu

LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 134
APPENDIX D
Screener Document
Parent Involvement Pre-Interview Questionnaire
Name:____________________________________ Phone Number:_______________________
1. Please specify your ethnicity.
 White.
 Hispanic or Latino.
 Black or African American.
 Native American or American Indian.
 Asian / Pacific Islander.
 Other___________________

2. What school does your child attend?___________________________
How many children do you have?_____________________________
How many children are in elementary?_________________________
What grade is your child in?_________________________________
3. How long have you lived in the United States?
 Less than one year
 More than one year
 More than 5 years
 More than 10 years
 More than 20 years
 All of my life

4. What is your primary language?_____________________________
What language did your child learn first?_______________
Is your child an English Learner (EL) English only (EO) Reclassified as a fluent English
speaker (RFEP)?
5. How many school events have you attended this school year?
None 1-2 3-4 5-6 More than 6
Do you participate in any committee, if so which one?________
How often does this committee meet?_____________
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT 135
Cuestionario antes de entrevista
Nombre:____________________________________ Número de teléfono____________________
6. Por favor especifique su origen étnico.
 Blanco
 Hispano o Latino.
 Negro o Afro-Americano
 Nativo Americano o Indio Americano
 Asiatico / Isla Pacifica
 Otro___________________

7. ¿Cuál escuela asiste su hijo/a?___________________________
¿Cuántos hijos/as tienes?_____________________________
¿Cuántos hijos tiene en escuela primaria?_________________________
¿En que grado esta su hijo/a?_________________________________

8. ¿Cuánto tiempo lleva viviendo en los Estados Unidos?
 Menos de un año
 Más de un año
 Más de 5 años
 Más de 10 años
 Más de 20 años
 Toda mi vida

9. ¿Cuál es su lenguaje materno?_____________________________
¿Qué idioma aprendió su hijo/a primero?_______________
Es su hijo/a aprendiz de inglés (EL) inglés solamente (EO) Reclasificado como fluente en
inglés (RFEP)
10. ¿Cuantos eventos escolares ha participado este año?
Ninguno 1-2 3-4 5-6 Más de 6
¿Participa en comites? Cual________
¿Cuántas veces se reune este comite?_____________

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This was an exploratory study to understand Latino parent involvement in schools. Using Clark and Estes (2008) conceptual framework the parents’ perceptions of their knowledge, motivation and organizational elements that support and impede parent involvement at home and at school were explored. Interviews with 10 Latino parents in a low socio-economic school were conducted and findings emerged related to their interactions with the children and the school. Latino parents believed in a division of labor where the school was responsible for teaching and parents were responsible for educación. The next finding noted that the parental self-efficacy was on a continuum that influenced the way parents were involved with their children and with the school. The school reinforced the division of labor by having parents involved in non-academic activities or making decisions on their behalf. The last finding demonstrated that parents took advantage of the resources at school in order to improve their interactions with the school. The implications of this study are that both the parents and the school need to build cultural competence in order to build collaborative partnerships. The recommendations are to build cultural competence by providing professional development to educators focusing on culturally relevant pedagogy and engaging in self-reflection. It is recommended that the role of the school shift so that it is a learner along with the parent and mutual learning takes place through the use of “funds of knowledge” approach. Another recommendation is to create parent leadership programs that empower parents to be equal partners in the decision-making process and engage parents in innovative and meaningful ways.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Higuchi, Doramanda Irias (author)

Core Title The parent voice: an exploratory study to understand Latino parent involvement in schools

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 09/12/2017

Defense Date 07/26/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag cultural competence,decision-making,educación,funds of knowledge,Latino parent,OAI-PMH Harvest,parent involvement,parental self-efficacy

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Slayton, Julie (committee chair), Hirabayashi, Kimberly (committee member), Tiwana, Ravneet (committee member)

Creator Email dhiguchi@usc.edu,doramanda.higuchi@lausd.net

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-428081

Unique identifier UC11264336

Identifier etd-HiguchiDor-5718.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-428081 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HiguchiDor-5718.pdf

Dmrecord 428081

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Higuchi, Doramanda Irias

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA