Exploring Concepts of Latina/o Parental Involvement in a Rural Setting

This qualitative study utilizes Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to understand views on parent involvement from the perspectives of Latina/o parents formally trained through a parental leadership organization and elementary school administrators in a rural community. The guiding questions for this study were, how do elementary school administrators and a group of Latina/o leaders in the Valley School District (VSD), a rural school setting, define parental involvement? And, what are the implications for future school-home collaboration? Once the data was analyzed, a round table discussion with both groups was organized to establish dialogue focused on parental involvement from Latina/os in order to positively impact student achievement. Findings revealed three major themes. First, Latina/o parents tend to view effective parent involvement as primarily home-based interactions, but view input from educators as critical to supporting their children. Second, school administrators view parent involvement as being mainly based in the school setting, however they are shifting their definition to include non-traditional views. Third, while a variety of perspectives were presented about the role culture plays in the perceived lack of Latina/o parent involvement, the majority of Latina/o parents agreed that a factor barring involvement was the challenges of living in a rural setting and a mountain resort community.