Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Latino Parents’ Involvement in Their Children’s Education Kristen E. Closson, Andrew S. Wilkins, Howard M. Sandler & Kathleen.

Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Latino Parents’ Involvement in Their Children’s Education

Kristen E. Closson, Andrew S. Wilkins, Howard M. Sandler & Kathleen V. Hoover-Dempsey

Vanderbilt Universityhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody/family-school/

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the Peabody Family-School Partnership Lab, the parents and schools that made this study possible and OERI/IES (grant #R305TO10673-03).

Background Information

Positive correlation between parental involvement and student achievement

Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s (1995, 1997) Model investigates why parents choose to become involved and how their mechanisms of involvement influence child outcomes

Level 1 Decision to get involved,

influenced by:

Parent’s role construction

Parent’s sense of efficacy for helping the

child

General school invitations for involvement

Level 2

Choice of involvement forms, influenced by:Parent’s skills

& knowledge

 Other demands on parent’s time and energy

 Specific invitations from

the child and school

Parental Involvement FormChild Specific School General

Level 2

Choice of involvement forms, influenced by:Parent’s skills

& knowledge

 Other demands on parent’s time and energy

 Specific invitations from

the child and school

Parental Involvement FormChild Specific School General

Parental Involvement FormChild Specific School General

Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler (1995; 1997)

Background Information

Lower levels of involvement among Latino parents relative to other parent groups (Goldenberg, 1987; Ritter, Mont-Reynaud, & Dornbusch, 1993; U.S. Department of Education, 1996)

Growing Latino population: ~546% growth in local Latino population ~62% are foreign born Largest minority group in U.S. (U.S. Census, 1990; 2000)

Background Information

Cultural differences: Emphasis on moral education, respect, and obedience more strongly than academics (Delgado-Gaitan, 1993; Reese, 2002; Reese, Balzano, Gallimore, & Goldenberg, 1995)

Language barriers, perceived lack of knowledge, and less flexible work schedules (Delgado-Gaitan, 1993; Goldenberg, 1987; Henderson, 1997; Lopez & Cole, 1999)

Understanding differences brings us closer to bridging the ethnic divide in education

Research Questions Compared to Anglo-American parents, do

Latino parents: Have a lower sense of efficacy? Have a more school-focused role construction? Perceive fewer general invitations for

involvement? Perceive fewer specific invitations for

involvement? Have a lower sense of their knowledge and skills

for involvement? Are any of these differences related to lower

levels of involvement for Latino parents?

Methods

Compared the questionnaire results of two groups of parents—Spanish-speaking Latinos (n=105) and Anglo-Americans (n=107)

Participants included parents of 1st – 4th grade students in three Metro Nashville Public Schools

Response rate for all parents was 37%

Methods

Questionnaires included scales assessing Levels One and Two of the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997) model of the Parental Involvement process

Questionnaires were available in English and Spanish

Results

  Latino Anglo

Efficacy   X

School-Focused Role X  

Parent-Focused Role    

Partnership-Focused Role    

General Teacher Invitations    

Specific Child Invitations    

Specific Teacher Invitations    

Knowledge & Skills   X

  Latino Anglo

Efficacy   X

School-Focused Role X  

Parent-Focused Role X  

Partnership-Focused Role X  

General Teacher Invitations X  

Specific Child Invitations X  

Specific Teacher Invitations X  

Knowledge & Skills   X

Results (cont’d)Dependent Measures

p < .01

p < .92

p < .000

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

5.00

5.50

6.00

Parental Involvement(Total)

Child-Focused ParentalInvolvement

School-FocusedInvolvement

Anglo-American Parents

Latino Parents

Results (cont’d)

No significant correlations between study variables and demographics (income, education, etc)

Helps to rule out idea that effects may be due to different economic or social status

Results (cont’d)

We examined two separate hierarchical regressions based on our hypotheses drawn from the literature.

We predicted that Anglo-American parents’ level of involvement would be more highly predicted by personal variables.

We predicted that Latino parents’ level of involvement would be more highly predicted by contextual variables.

Results (cont’d)

Anglo-American ΔR2

Specific Child Invitations 0.356

Parent-Focused Role ---

School-Focused Role 0.021

Partnership-Focused Role 0.117

Efficacy ---

Specific Teacher Invitations 0.043

General School Invitations ---

Knowledge & Skills ---

Total R2 0.537

Latino ΔR2

Specific Teacher Invitations 0.282

Specific Child Invitations 0.108

General School Invitations ---

Parent-Focused Role ---

School-Focused Role ---

Partnership-Focused Role 0.044

Knowledge & Skills 0.033

Efficacy ---

Total R2 0.467

Discussion

Efficacy Consistent with our hypothesis, Latino

parents had a lower sense of self-efficacy for helping the child succeed in school.

Likely due to lack of experience and less familiarity with the American school system.

Discussion (cont’d)Parental Role Construction

Latino parents had a more school-focused role construction.

Higher levels of parent- and partnership-focused role constructions.

Lack of understanding of their role in children’s education.

High sensitivity to the impact of education on the whole family.

Determination to try hard on multiple levels.

Discussion (cont’d) Invitations

Latino Parents perceived more general school, specific teacher and specific child invitations.

Likely due to their general cultural inclination to respect the teacher and school, who they view as an authority on the child’s education.

Specific Child Invitations:Latino children may need more help due to

language barrier.Salience of education.Parent as a co-learner.

Discussion (cont’d)

Levels of Involvement Latino parents reported higher levels

of general school involvement. Latino and Anglo-American parents

reported similarly high (5.44 and 5.45 out of 6) levels of child-focused involvement.

Different factors contributed to parents’ level of involvement.

Limitations

37% overall response rate—likely parents who are most involved filled out surveys.

Possible misinterpretations of questionnaires, stemming from cultural and linguistic differences between groups.

Lack of qualitative data. No information regarding length of time

lived in the United States.

Next Steps Explore how results change as

immigrants assimilate over time. Increase response rates to gain a more

representative sample. Examine Latino populations across the

country to explore differences based on location and various school systems.

Examine how social support networks influence parental involvement and student achievement.

 Student outcomes, including:

Skills and knowledge Self-efficacy for school success

Level 5

Mechanisms of parental involvement’s influence on child’s school outcomes

Modeling Reinforcement Instruction

Level 3

 Tempering/mediating variables Parent’s use of developmentally

appropriate strategiesFit between parent’s involvement actions

& school expectations

Level 4

Parents’ basic involvement decision, influenced by:

Parent’s role construction

Parent’s sense of efficacy for

helping the child

General school invitations for involvement

General child invitations for involvement

Level 1

Parents’ choice of involvement forms, influenced by:

Parent’s skills & knowledge

 Other demands on parent’s time and energy

 Specific invitations from the child and school

Level 2

Results (cont’d)

  Anglo β Latino β

Efficacy ns ns

Parent-Focused Role ns ns

School-Focused Role -0.210 ns

Partnership-Focused Role 0.292 0.126

General School Invitations ns ns

Specific Child Invitations 0.347 0.341

Specific Teacher Invitations 0.277 0.289

Knowledge & Skills ns 0.207