data revealed the role of school personnel, the role of parents was determined from the individual interviews. According to the perspectives of school personnel and parents, the third theme that emerged was parents supporting students at school and home. All 12 participants included the role of parents in their definition of parental involvement. Participants were asked to define parental involvement and all responses revealed the importance of parents being present to help their child be successful. The six school personnel participants perceived the role of parents as being active in their child’s education and more than visibility at the school. Ms. Nelson stated:
I think it [parental involvement] could run a range of levels of involvement for some parents. Involvement means having to be at work at times when other parents might be at school. It’s [parental involvement] just being a follower on social media and paying attention to what’s happening in school and supporting kids with homework or making sure that they’re in bed on time and prepared for school.
Ms. Hill also viewed the role of parents beyond being visible at school. In her definition of parental involvement, she said, “it’s not necessarily seeing the parents, but it’s the environment that they have with the child. This could include helping with homework.” The common
perception shared by school personnel suggested parents as supporters of their child(ren) at school and home. Ms. Thompson also shared her perspective:
Parents are involved in their kid’s life, not just a school, but also at home. With
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the school. Also wanting to know what’s going on in the school and how they can be a better parent or better help kids with their homework.
The theme of parents supporting students at school and home emerged from the parent interviews as well. The six parent participants shared their lived experiences as parents being involved in their child(ren)’s education. Parents were asked to define parental involvement, which revealed their perceived role. Ms. Carter shared, “involvement is being active with the teachers, communicating with the teachers. Going into the school more and being hands-on to see what they actually is teaching the kids and doing with the kids. I also reinforce the importance of education at home.” Another parent, Ms. Washington, defined parental involvement as “being aware of like your children’s grades, who their teacher is and how they’re doing academically and behaviorally. Making sure they have good study habits at home.” This theme is also supported by the data that emerged from the interview question about the role of parents. During the one-on-one interviews, parents were asked how they view their role. Ms. Clarkson described her responsibilities as being the enforcer at home. She explained her role as, “following through with some type of work at home, whether it’s the 20 minutes of reading a night or trying to keep the screen time down.” Ms. Adams expressed her desire to be more involved by being at the school, she shared that it was her role to support her children and she knew she needed to get better with her role:
My role is critical. I need to be there to boost my child’s confidence. I promised my baby girl last year that she will see me way more. In 2018, I wanted to do more things with my children, be more present, more visible.
There was an agreement among parent participants that the role of parents in parental involvement entails supporting their child(ren) at school and home.
When asked to explain what support at home and school support looks like, many of the parent participants provided both traditional and nontraditional involvement activities. Homework
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help was a common traditional at home involvement activity. All six participants mentioned homework help to support their child(ren) at home. Two parents discussed at home involvement in a more nontraditional way. For example, Ms. Adams stated, “it’s my role to monitor the
whereabouts of my children and teach them responsibility and how to make good choices. Let me see your phone. Let me know who you talking to you, where you go and who was this.”
Volunteering at school and attending PTO meetings was mentioned by all parent participants. Ms. Carter explained her traditional role at school as, “volunteering at the school to help with whatever they [the school] need and participate in PTO meetings.” Three of the parents discussed their involvement at the school to support all students. They mentioned the African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” When Mr. Franklin explained his involvement at the school he stated:
I see my role as much needed and important, not only for my child but also to be a positive role model for all students when I come into the building. There are a lot of single moms raising kids and they may not have a positive male in their life, so I can be an influence because it takes a village.
Parental involvement at school extended beyond the support of their own child(ren). Ms. Patterson mentioned the importance of her role to network and build relationships with other parents:
I am hands on with all the kids, even the ones that are not mine. Me and some of the other parents have a relationship. They know sometimes I’m in the classroom and if they don’t mind I will look after their child, you know, I’m not stepping on no toes. I’m not trying to take mom role, but I’m here to help the village.
Field notes. The observations of parental involvement activities at the school site provided evidence to support the perceptions of the traditional and nontraditional role of parents. Parents attending the Back to School Night and PTO meeting aligned with the perspective of parents participating in involvement activities at the school. In addition, while observing a kindergarten
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classroom during the Back to School Night a parent inquired about homework. The parent asked the teacher if students would receive homework. She inquired, “my other kids bring home a homework packet on Mondays and it’s due on Thursdays, will you do something like this?” Networking and supporting the village perspective was supported by the interactions between parents during these events. While observing the Back to School Night many parents were seen greeting one another throughout the building. Some parents shared their child’s classroom number to see if their children were assigned to the same classroom. One parent decided to help a child who came to the event without their parent. After asking the child where his mom was and learning that she had to work, the parent insisted on taking the child to visit his teacher, “your mom should have called me, she knows you could’ve rode with us. Come on I’ll take you to visit your teacher.” Parents were observed in their role as a supporter of students at school and home. The theme supporting students at home and school emerged during the review of school
documents as well. The study site has a learning compact that states it was jointly developed with parents. The compact outlines the role of the teacher, parent, and students in the home-school partnership. The compact included traditional roles for the parents, such as volunteering in the classroom, attending involvement activities, and homework help at home.
Challenges/Barriers