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The first research question aimed to collect data on questions 3-34 to determine which practices middle school principals used or did not use.The Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnership survey (Epstein et al., 2002) was revised and used in this study in order to reflect current practices like the use of technology for communication (Appendix B). Individual practices (described in each question) are aligned to the six parent involvement categories.

Practices middle level principals used “extensively” included requiring teachers to hold conferences with parents, mandating teachers’ websites to be current, empowering teachers to provide information about curriculum, assessment, and grades to parents throughout the school year, and expecting teachers to respond to parent emails or phone calls within 24 hours. Practices middle level principals used extensively also included holding monthly parent organization meetings and holding orientations for new families including parents and students.

It was interesting to note that the practices used extensively could be delineated by practices principals require teachers to do and practices middle level principals do themselves. Middle level principals supervising teachers’ actions and requiring them to adhere to specific parent involvement practices facilitated parent involvement. This is not to say the principals do not take responsibility for involving parents. Overall, principals requiring teachers to adhere to specific practices were done “extensively”. Middle school principals who are collaborative build a trusting relationship with teachers; strong principals know the teachers they lead. A principal needs to be able to identify teachers who may not be comfortable working with parents and assist them to gain the needed strategies to do so successfully. A principal must set teachers up for success.

Practices extensively used are proactive rather than reactive. Principals’ responses for practices done extensively identified they need to occur in a timely manner, for example, returning call within 24 hours, discussing grades throughout the year, and keeping website information current. These are also practices that are embedded into the daily jobs of educators.

Principal responses indicated “frequent” practices in respecting diversity through school activities and scheduling school events at various times to accommodate work schedules. These frequent practices assist in breaking down barriers discussed in the literature. Research indicated a trend in minority parents feeling unwelcomed, alienated, or isolated (Matuszny, Devender, and Coleman, 2007; Trotman, 2001). Therefore, celebrating diversity and respecting work schedules to invite parents to become part of the school community is a welcomed involvement practice principals should be utilizing. However, responses indicated a little over half of principals do not consistently practice removing communication barriers for parents who may not understand “standard communication”. This may be because principals are not aware of the needs of families within the school. Parents may not want to admit a language barrier exists. Principals may not have any communication expertise in any other language but English. I have experienced families not indicating a need for English language services for their child because they are fearful of the stigma created by being in a separate class.

Principals also responded to frequently requiring teachers to discuss with parents how to assist their child at home with such things as organization and study skills. Assisting parents financially with fees for school sponsored activities and sports were also frequently practiced. These frequent practices show a willingness to support parents. Research indicated parents may not be able to become involved due to socioeconomics (Lareau, 1987; Stacer & Perrucci, 2012).

If a parent cannot afford to have their child participate in a school sponsored event, it can keep both the child and parents from feeling a connection to the school.

Most surprising were the findings regarding middle level principals’ responses to practices “not occurring”. Almost half of the principals indicated they do not conduct surveys to match parent volunteers’ interests and talents to classroom needs. Doing this would provide teachers with valuable information about what volunteers could offer beyond assisting with parties and field trips. Parents have a multitude of talents. These talents and skills could be meaningful to classroom teachers as they present lessons. Collaboration could be taken to a much deeper level if the talents, interests, and expertise of parents were common knowledge within the school community. This finding is concerning because literature indicates parent involvement drops off as the secondary level (Borough& Irvin, 2001; Dauber & Epstein, 1989). I can acknowledge that it does become more challenging to initiate activities where parents are invited into classrooms to volunteer, but when parents are given the opportunity to offer specific talents or experiences, teachers are excited and willing to tap into parents’ expertise.

When looking to identify ways to involve parents, simple invites from teachers motivated parents (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2005). Parents felt welcomed when receiving an invitation to become involved. However, some principals responded that the practice of asking parents who are involved to reach out to other parents is not occurring. This simple task of inviting parents to become involved, through either recruiting involved parents to do so or by principals taking time to do this, could increase parent involvement.