Parent Involvement in Urban Schools: The View from the Front of the Classroom

American educational reform movements focus on efforts to restructure our schools to include all interested parties, especially parents, in the decision-making process. Nowhere is involvement more crucial than in America\u27s inner-city urban neighborhoods. As parents are given a greater voice in their child\u27s school, educators must join them as collaborators. This article identifies elements that impeded parental involvement and recognizes positive and encouraging techniques leading toward successful family-school-community partnerships. An alliance between groups too long seen as opponents rather than proponents must be established

Influences impacting on parent involvement in an inner-city elementary school

The focus of this descriptive study was to determine parental attitudes and perceptions which deter parents from voluntarily becoming involved in the activities of their child\u27s inner city elementary school. The research instrument used to determine both individual and collective impacts upon the relationships between the Home and School connection was a questionnaire. This questionnaire was sent out to 140 parents of inner city elementary school students. The targeted population was composed of African Americans, Asians, White Americans, and Hispanics. The measurement tool was translated both in English and Spanish, so as to accommodate the language preferences of the school community. This questionnaire measured parent involvement variables such as parent communications with the school, parental awareness of school operations, parental participation in school activities, home-school work habits, and overall relationships with teachers. The information elicited analyzed comparisons among the various ethnic groups concerning their parental attitudes towards the openness of the school, the collaborative nature between Home and School, effectiveness of the school, and the general school climate. This study not only identified those elements which impede parental involvement but it also recognized positive and encouraging factors leading towards the formation of viable Home and School partnerships. Since parents are being given more choices in selecting schools for their children, educators must encourage and foster parents to become collaborators/partners in the education of their children. It is incumbent upon us as educators to investigate, identify, measure, and recognize these adverse factors and determine an appropriate course of action to reduce and eliminate this apathetic trend currently held by parents towards teachers and education in general