Date of Award

6-2019

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Lizano, Erica

Abstract

Latinos are the second largest ethnic group after Whites in the education system, yet there is still a large gap between Whites’ and Latino’s graduation rates. Research indicates that parental involvement in children’s education plays a significant role in children’s academic success. For this reason, this study aims to understand Latino parents’ perspectives on their participation in their child’s school. More specifically, how often Latino parents receive invitations from the school and whether or not they respond to these invitations. The research design for this study is exploratory and qualitative and uses one-on-one interviews with Latino parents. The central themes the emerged from this study were effective communication from the school to parents, a lack of structure for reciprocal communication, parents’ welcoming attitudes of school invitations and “being present/involved” as the major responsibility parents identified for themselves for ensuring a successful school experience for their children. The results of this study have major implications for social work practice in that it allows schools to better understand how to involve Latino parents in the school setting. This study also proposes that school social workers educate school staff and Latino parents about the importance of Latino parental school involvement.

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