Spanish-Speaking Hispanic/Latino Families Education-Related Parental Involvement Practices

ABSTRACT

Under current and prominent definitions, the rates of parental involvement among Hispanic/Latino families have been historically low. However, empirical evidence suggests that parental involvement can be perceived/practiced in varied ways. This work explored these perceptions held by Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino families through focus groups (n = 10) and individual interviews (n = 23) with parents of school-age children. Findings suggest that Spanish-speaking parents define parental involvement to include the emphasis of educación (a recognition that children’s moral compasses and respectful behavior are a part of their formal education) and a parent-centered approach (involving the children in the parents everyday life), while navigating language barriers. Both Spanish- and English-speaking parents endorsed low parent-teacher communication and strong educational aspirations for their children. That is, parents expressed wanting their children to have a better life than the lives the parents have experienced themselves. This study offers empirical evidence that Spanish-speaking families are highly involved in their children’s academic development and perceive themselves to play a critical role in their children’s educational success. A shared understanding of values including culturally responsive measures to assess diverse parental involvement practices and adopting a cultural lens among teachers/educators is needed to accommodate diverse cultural parental involvement practices. Study findings can inform policies and practice to help pre-service teachers and educators to understand factors that determine Spanish-speaking families’ engagement in school-based parental involvement.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental involvement
• Spanish-speaking families
• academic achievement
• qualitative methods
• elementary

Introduction

Under current and prominent definitions, the rates of parental involvement among Latino¹ families have been historically lower than the rates of white² families, resulting in educators interpreting Latino families as being disinterested or uninvolved in their children’s education (Durand & Perez, 2013; Grace & Gerdes, 2019; McQuiggan & Megra, 2017). The prominent definition of parental involvement includes activities such as assisting students with homework, attending parent-teacher conferences at the school, reading to or with children, and engaging in enrichment activities (e.g., visiting a local museum). That is, parental involvement is often conceptualized synonymously with the amount of hours spent on fostering student’s academic identity at their home, school, and local environment (Degol et al., 2017; Duppong Hurley et al., 2017). However, empirical evidence suggests that parental involvement can be perceived and practiced in varied ways (De Carvalho, 2000). For instance, educators and parents tend to weigh aspects of parental involvement differently. Educators value school-based activities, such as volunteering and parent-teacher conference attendance, whereas parents value their role in the home, such as helping with homework assignments and setting academic expectations (Myers, 2015). Without consistent definitions and practices, both educators and parents may have unclear parental involvement expectations that can ultimately affect students’ academic performance.

Few studies have examined the experiences of young children despite previous research showing that school-based parental involvement may be particularly important during the early years for children (i.e., elementary school; Nimetz, 1992; Payne, 2015; Pianta et al., 2007). For example, previous work shows that, for kindergarteners, parental involvement is a significant predictor of children’s academic (i.e., literacy) skills (Durand, 2011). However, most studies that have examined parental involvement practices have used secondary school (sixth grade and older) student samples (Duppong Hurley et al., 2017; Hill & Tyson, 2009) and show that parental involvement is a key component in children’s academic performance, with more parental involvement associated with higher academic achievement (Barger et al., 2019; Jeynes, 2017; Liu & White, 2017; Oswald et al., 2018). For instance, more parental involvement in the form of expressing explicit academic expectations is correlated with higher levels of students’ mathematics test scores (Neuenschwander et al., 2007). Parental involvement also correlates with higher grade point averages, school attendance, literacy skills, and lower rates of exclusionary discipline (Durand, 2011; Jeynes, 2005; Marcucci, 2020; Park et al., 2017).

SES, language, and ethnoracial consideration

Diverse subpopulations experience disproportionate barriers taking part in parental involvement practices. For instance, low-SES families are as motivated and ardent as middle- and high-SES parents about providing opportunities for their children to succeed. However, low-SES parents are bound by their primary role to provide for their children’s basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter (Lareau, 2011). They also have limited time due to high work demands, low parent-teacher communication, and low parental proficiency (Perrigo et al., 2022). Low-SES parents involve older siblings to help with school-related activities, and because of limited financial resources, they activate informal (e.g., playing in the park) rather than formal (e.g., piano lessons) enrichment activities (Perrigo et al., 2022).

Another subgroup, Spanish-speaking parents, may feel uncomfortable interacting with school personnel due to inability, or limited ability, to communicate with school staff (Good et al., 2010; Petrone, 2016; Tarasawa & Waggoner, 2015; Zarate, 2007). In an ethnographic study of an immigrant, field worker family, findings show parents perceived they were instilling the value of education in their children by taking them to their workplace (Lopez, 2001). Such forms of parental involvement are not reflected in the general, predominantly school-based, definition of parental involvement.

Petrone (2016) qualitatively explored the experiences of Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant families with high school students in both Mexican and U.S. schools. Parents in Mexican schools shared the school’s expectation of them were to ensure that the children were well-mannered and learned the importance of good behavior, such as making sure they were punctual and well-nourished. Mexican schools did not have an expectation of the parents to teach their children academic skills. Parents in U.S. schools believed that the U.S. schools were mostly concerned with teaching their children academic skills rather than practical life skills (e.g., teach good morals, respect for others, and be aware of children’s peer group), which are skill sets that are highly-regarded as cultural values in the Latino community. Other work has also found, similarly, that Latino parents defined parental involvement as preparing children with life skills over traditional academic involvement, such as attending parent-teacher conferences (Zarate, 2007).

Current study

Primary school is considered a key educational period when children are forming their ideas, expectations, and attitudes toward school that they carry throughout their academic lives. It is also a time when parents form their own involvement practices and navigate their children’s education. Given the limited research on school-based parental involvement in primary school, this study focuses on these particularly influential years of education to examine conceptualization and practices of parental involvement among Spanish- and English speaking- parents with elementary school-aged children. Specifically, we employed focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews conducted with low-SES parents in Chicago Heights, Illinois to explore parents’ perceptions of their contributions to children’s educational performance, barriers and facilitators to parental involvement, and cultural influences in their understanding and engagement in their children’s academic achievement. Findings can inform policies and practice to help pre-service teachers and educators to understand factors that determine Spanish-speaking families’ engagement in school-based parental involvement (Maldonado Torres, 2022).

Methods

Study setting and participants

Participants were part of a larger longitudinal Chicago Heights Early Childhood Center (CHECC) study. CHECC was implemented in 2010 and examined mechanisms in preschool education which used enhanced curricula (Fryer et al., 2015). A total of 2,185 households of children (three- and four-year-olds) and their parents, mostly from racial or ethnic groups from Chicago Heights and the surrounding areas, were enrolled. CHECC parents and children continue to be followed annually and the last wave of data collection was in the Fall of 2022 when the children were between 10 and 16 years old. The current study involved a transdisciplinary research team of psychologists, economists, and social workers who collected primary qualitative data with CHECC parents engaged in focus groups (n = 10) and individual interviews (n = 23).

The current study employed a two-phased qualitative research methods approach. The first phase involved focus groups conducted to build consensus among parents around parental involvement practices and initially engage participants who might have been hesitant to provide responses in individual interviews (Kruger, 1997; Morgan, 1996). Individual interviews were then conducted with a subsample of focus group participants sequentially, for purposes of enhancing triangulation using multiple data sources to develop comprehensive understanding of phenomena (Patton, 2002). Individual interviews also addressed the process of how parents defined their own involvement with their children’s school-based activities.

Recruitment

Focus groups

The CHECC research team generated a list of 395 families who resided in the Chicago Heights School District 170 (SD-170). The SD-170 was the focus of the current study because it serves historically low-SES families, characterized by 28% of individuals below the poverty line, an $18,886 per capita or $41,478 median household income, and 23% without a high school degree (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). SD-170 families also demonstrated, in the larger CHECC study, high levels of federal aid utilization, including foodstamps (48.8%), supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC; 41.8%), and Medicaid (63.0%).

Participants were invited to a one-hour focus group discussion at the local elementary school in May and April of 2019. In an effort to foster trust and intimate group discussions, three to five participants were invited per group. Parents were informed that focus group discussions would relate to their school-based parental involvement experiences, as well as their perspectives on what factors influenced their children’s academic-related functioning. Parents were informed that the group discussion would be audio-recorded and transcribed. Parents were offered a $20 gift card for their participation.

Recruitment efforts included four sequential steps. First, bilingual (English and Spanish) flyers were sent to parents who had an e-mail address on file (n = 174). Some e-mail addresses were incorrect (n = 18) and most parents did not respond (n = 146). Second, using a telephone script delivered by a bilingual/bicultural researcher, parents were invited to participate in the current study via telephone. Of the 34 live calls with parents, 26 agreed to participate, yielding a 76% response rate. After using these two initial strategies, eight focus groups had reached capacity. For the remaining two focus groups, a bilingual flyer was sent to the parents’ home address (n = 49). In the fourth and final step, a bilingual text message was sent to the parents (n = 5). After these four sequential phases, all 10 focus groups reached capacity. Each participant received via e-mail or postal mail a study summary sheet and informed consent. See Figure 1 which illustrates the recruitment efforts and outcomes.

Figure 1. Recruitment effort.

Individual interviews

At the conclusion of the focus groups, parents were recruited to participate in the individual interviews. If parents indicated interest, they were asked about a preferred location (in-person or phone call), language (English or Spanish), and time (morning, afternoon, or evening). Parents were informed that individual interviews would elaborate on the focus group discussions related to school-based parental involvement. Similar to the focus groups, parents were informed that the individual interviews would also be audio-recorded and transcribed. Parents were offered a $25 gift card for their participation. Twenty parents were randomly selected and invited to participate in an individual interview. All 20 accepted and three additional parents contacted the lead researcher expressing interest to be interviewed. As a result, parents were scheduled for an in-person (n = 7) or telephone (n = 16) interview, yielding a total of 23 individual interviews.

Measurements

Qualitative focus group semi-structured instrument guide

Guided by the literature, a series of unique semi-structured questions were designed to elicit information about participants’ perceptions and experiences of parental involvement, as well as other germane factors related to their children’s academic-related functioning. Questions were sufficiently open-ended to enable participants to elaborate on issues they considered important or relevant. All focus groups were moderated by a bilingual/bicultural, qualitative methods-trained researcher. The moderator encouraged authentic responses and elicited parents’ opinions about their school-based involvement. Each question was followed by probes relevant to the participants’ answers and group discussion. For example, the researcher probed for academic achievement barriers and facilitators, as well as encouraged parents to think holistically about their parental involvement experiences.

Qualitative individual interview semi-structured instrument guide

Previous empirical studies and CHECC focus group findings informed the 10 semi-structured and open-ended individual interview questions that were specifically developed for the current study. An initial set of questions was presented to and tested for clarity with a community advisory board (made up of three Spanish-speaking parents), whose verbal feedback was used to revise the interview guide. Primary questions included parents’ perceptions of their children’s academic performance; perceived contributions to children’s educational performance; the role of parental involvement; barriers and facilitators to parental involvement; potential adjustments in response to limited resources; cultural factors; the role of siblings; and the use of screen time.

Similar to the focus group semi-structured questions, the individual interview questions were sufficiently open-ended to enable participants to elaborate on issues they considered important or relevant. All individual interviews were moderated by the same researcher who moderated the focus groups. The Institutional Review Board at the affiliated university approved all methods for current study.

Analysis

A total of 10 focus group and 22 individual interview transcripts (one individual interview audio quality was poor and therefore not transcribed) were included in the analysis. Data was stratified by language to understand differences and similarities between Spanish and English-speakers. All focus group and individual interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a “Coding Consensus, Co-occurrence, and Comparison” (Willms et al., 1990) thematic content analysis approach similar to that employed in grounded theory (Glaser et al., 1968). Following this approach, empirical material contained in the qualitative data was coded at a very broad level to condense the data into analyzable units. Two researchers independently reviewed four transcripts (two from the focus groups and two from the individual interviews) to develop a preliminary list of codes. Segments of transcripts ranging from a phrase to several paragraphs were assigned codes based on a priori (i.e., questions in the focus group or individual interviews) or emergent themes. In some instances, the same text segment was assigned more than one code. After independent review of the four transcripts, research team members compared codes and developed two preliminary codebooks, one for the focus groups and one for the individual interviews. Disagreements in assignment or definition of codes were resolved via discussion or, when necessary, with other members of the research team. The resulting codebooks were used to code all 10 focus groups and 22 individual interview transcripts. In the final step, differences and similarities between English- and Spanish-speakers were analyzed. The same team of researchers analyzed both the focus group and individual interview transcripts, which allowed for an immersed experience with the qualitative CHECC data. All coding and analysis was completed using qualitative data software (Dedoose, 2018).

Results

Sample descriptives

Ten focus groups were completed: five in English with 18 participants and five in Spanish with 23 participants. Each group had between three and six participants and lasted an average of 64 minutes. Individual interview participants included 10 English and 13 Spanish speakers and interviews lasted an average of 44 minutes. Mean age of Spanish-speakers was 42 (S.D. = 5.9) years with a $24,208 annual household income average. English-speakers were, on average, 43 (S.D. = 11.0) years with a $46,886 annual household income. All Spanish-speakers identified as Hispanic or Latino and as Mexican immigrants, and English-speakers identified as Hispanic/Latino 22.2%, Black 55.6%, and white 22.2%. Both the English- and Spanish-speaker groups averaged three adults and two children per household. Notable differences were identified in marital status and parental education. A total of 82.6% of Spanish-speakers were married compared to 44.4% of the English-speakers. Also, 52.2% of Spanish-speakers did not have a high school diploma compared to 5.6% of English speakers. See Table 1 for full sample descriptive statistics for both Spanish- and English-speaking participants.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of both Spanish- and English-Speaking Participants.

	Spanish Speakers (n = 23)	English Speakers (n = 18)
	% or µ (S.D.)	% or µ (S.D.)
Focus Groups (n = 10)	43.9%	56.1%
Individual Interviews (n = 23)	56.5%	43.5%
Ethnicity
Hispanic	100.0%	22.2%
Black	0.0%	55.6%
White	0.0%	22.2%
Marital Status
Married	82.6%	44.4%
Divorced or Separated	0.0%	5.6%
Single	4.3%	5.6%
Other	13.0%	44.4%
Parental Education
No high school diploma	52.2%	5.6%
High school diploma or GED	30.4%	16.7%
Some college, associates, or vocational	13.0%	55.6%
College degree	4.3%	16.7%
Number of individuals in the household
Children under 18 years	3.1 (1.4)	3.0 (1.5)
Adults 18 years or older	2.2 (0.7)	1.9 (0.8)
Residential Stability
Number of moves in the past 10 years	1.2 (1.30)	0.8 (1.2)
Number of moves in the past 5 years	0.4 (0.7)	0.3 (0.6)
Participant Age	42 (5.9)	43 (11.0)
Annual Household Income	$24,208 ($14,925)	$46,886 ($37,998)

Other marital status includes domestic partnerships or widows. µ = mean. S.D. = standard deviation.

Qualitative Themes

Five themes emerged from the focus groups and were triangulated through individual interviews. Both English- and Spanish-speaking parents endorsed low levels of parent-teacher communication and emphasized deeply rooted educational aspirations for their children, but offered distinct differences in both of these themes. Primarily Spanish-speaking parents reported a parent-centered (versus a child-centered) approach to parental involvement and qualitatively defined “education,” or, in Spanish: educación, differently than English-speaking parents. Additionally, Spanish-speaking parents reported language as a prominent barrier to their parental involvement. Table 2 demonstrates the qualitative theme counts and percentages.

Table 2. Qualitative theme counts and percentages.

	Focus Groups (n = 10)		Individual Interviews (n = 22)
	Spanish-Speakers	English-Speakers	Spanish-Speakers	English-Speakers
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Low Parent-Teacher Communication	1 (20%)	5 (100%)	9 (69%)	9 (100%)
Educational Aspirations	5 (100%)	2 (40%)	7 (54%)	4 (44%)
Parent-Centered Approach	4 (80%)	0 (0%)	2 (15%)	0 (0%)
Educación	4 (80%)	1 (20%)	10 (77%)	0 (0%)
Language Barriers	5 (100%)	0 (0%)	13 (100%)	0 (0%)

Low parent-teacher communication

Both Spanish- and English-speaking parents reported that ongoing communication with their children’s teacher was a key factor in their definition of school-based parental involvement. However, the mechanisms for parent-teacher communication varied. For example, some parents reported bi-annual parent-teacher conferences were the only means of parent-teacher communication; a trend noted strongly among Spanish-speaking parents. When asked about parent-teacher communication outside of the conferences, one Spanish-speaking parent stated, “Creo que no es necesario | I think it is not necessary.” Other Spanish-speaking parents endorsed the same sentiment. “Solo cuando tienen las conferencias me centro en comunicarme con la maestra. Porque nos piden que vaimos y firmar para verificar cómo van nuestros hijos en la escuela | Only when they have the conferences do I focus on communicating with the teacher. Because they ask us to come and sign to verify how our children are doing in school.”

Spanish-speaking parents described parent-teacher conferences as a “requisito |requirement,” however, communication outside of the conferences was perceived as optional. “La única manera de involucrarme es yendo a las reunions con las maestras cuando ellas requieren que vaya. Normalmente es una o dos veceas al año. | The only way to get involved is going to the meetings with the teachers when they require that I go. It is normally once or twice a year.” However, other parents (mostly English speakers) reported that their parent-teacher communication included communication outside of the parent-teacher conferences via ClassDojo (a communication application for teachers and parents), electronic mail, or one-on-one meetings with teachers. “The teacher sends me messages through ClassDojo; ‘Your son brought his homework today.’ ‘He didn’t come to class today,’ Yeah, the teacher tells me everything.”

Educational aspirations

Both Spanish- and English-speaking parents described a desire for their children to have a better life than the lives the parents have experienced themselves. However, this theme was more commonly endorsed by Spanish-speakers (focus groups = 100% and individual interviews = 54%) compared to English-speakers (focus groups = 40% and individual interviews = 44%). Parents defined messaging around opportunities for formal education (and in turn, academic achievement) as a valuable resource without which there are fewer employment opportunities. Many times, Spanish-speaking parents reported explicitly sharing their hardships with their children in an effort to motivate them to do well in school, a key difference from English-speaking parents. Spanish-speaking parents expressed a desire for their children to “tener mas conocimientos mas avanzados que [los proprios padres] | have more advanced knowledge than [the parents themselves].” Sometimes using their low-paying or (self-described) undesirable jobs as examples of what they believed their children should avoid. One Spanish-speaking parent shared: “Mi esposo no terminó la escuela. Pero, les dice a nuestros hijos que tienen que intentarlo. Le explico a mi hijo:¿Te gustaría estar en un techo? ¿Quieres trabajar allí, sufriendo de calor, sufriendo de frío? ¿Es eso lo que quieres?’ Le digo a mi hijo, “Tienes que prepararte.” | My husband didn’t finish school. But, he tells our children that they have to try. He explains to my son, “Would you like to be on a roof? You want to work there, suffering from heat, suffering from the cold? Is that what you want?” I tell my son, “You have to prepare yourself.”” Another Spanish-speaking parent reported: “Me gustaría que [mi hijo] fuera al colegio porque no me gustaría que trabajara como mi esposo. Bueno, viendo el trabajo que tiene mi esposo, no me gustaría ver a uno de mis hijos como mi esposa que llega muy sucio, con las manos muy negras porque trabaja en soldadura. A mis hijos les digo que su papá siempre está respirando puro humo y sé que por dentro se está dañando el cuerpo. No me gustaría ver a mis hijos así. | I would like [my son] to go to college because I wouldn’t like him to work like my husband. Well, seeing the work that my husband has, I wouldn’t like to see one of my children like my husband that arrives really dirty, with his hands very black because he works in welding. I tell my children that their dad is always breathing pure smoke and I know that he is damaging his body inside. I would not like to see my children like that.”

Parent-centered approach

Spanish-speaking parents further refined the definition of school-based parental involvement by stating they involved their children in their lives, rather than parents being involved in their children's lives. A father in one of the focus groups described parental involvement in the following manner: “No me involucro en sus vidas; ¡Yo los involucro en la mía! Prefieren estar en la case, pero les digo: “No. Si realmente quieres ver la vida, ven conmigo. No me involucraré contigo. Te vas a involucrar conmigo. | I don’t get involved in their lives; I involve them in mine! They prefer to be in the house, but I say, “No. If you really want to see life, come with me.” I will not get involved with you. You are going to get involved with me.” Parents wanted to show their children, from a young age, the reality of everyday life. These parents placed significant value in exposing their children to “el mundo real |the real world,” including everyday errands and, at times, joining their parents at work. Parents believed these skills would translate to academic achievement by creating more “independiente | independent” and “niños trabajadores | hard-working children.”

English-speaking parents did not endorse this theme, but Spanish-speaking parents reported they “involucrar [a sus hijos] en las tareas del hogar | involve [their children] with the housework,” such as gardening, cooking, cleaning, taking out the trash, and washing the dishes. Parents endorsed this parent-centered approach as a way that encouraged their children to be responsible and adequately prepare them with practical life skills necessary for adulthood, traits that they believed would also transfer to academic success. “Todos mis hijos saben hacer la cena, llevan y lavan los platos. Entonces puse las reglas: Los Lunes cortan la yarda. También están por ahí con la máquina cortando. Como decimos, ‘cuidar de los negocios.’ Pero [los niños] están involucrados con nosotros | All of my children know how to make dinner, they carry over and wash the dishes. Then I set the rules: On Mondays they cut the yard. They are also out there with the machine cutting the grass. Like we say, ‘taking care of business.’ But [the children] are involved with us.”

Educación

Spanish-speaking parents often referenced a common phrase during the focus group discussions: “Se educa en casa y se enseña en la escuela.” The loose translation is: “You educate at home and you teach at school.” The word “educate” refers to behavioral education and the word “teach” refers to academic teachings. This common phrase is important because in the English language, the words “educate” or “education” are almost synonymous with instruction in a school or university setting. However, in Spanish, the word educación refers to instruction in a home setting, often referring to instruction around manners and polite behavior. For example, teaching children how to be respectful or greeting friends and family when they walk into a room.

Spanish-speaking parents perceived their role is to teach their children to be well-mannered and respectful, not to instruct their children on academic matters. The latter role was perceived to be solely, or primarily, the teachers’ responsibility. One parent stated, “En el hogar se enseña la moral, y en la escuel se enseña lo académico. | At home morals are taught, and at school academics are taught.” Another Spanish-speaking parent said, “Todo comienza en el hogar. Cada uno es responsable de la parte que le corresponde en la educación de sus hijos. Si están bien educados: simplemente se portan bien. | It all starts in the home. Everyone is responsible for their part that corresponds to the education of their children. If they are well educated: they simply behave well.”

Language barrier

Naturally, as parents reflected on their parental involvement, they also reflected on barriers that they have experienced. All Spanish-speaking parents in both the focus groups and individual interviews defined parental involvement in the context of one significant barrier: language limitations. Their inability, or limited ability, to speak English had ramifications on the parent-teacher relationships, parents’ ability to be involved in school-related activities, and their confidence as a parent to provide educational support to their bilingual children. In a focus group a Spanish-speaking parent stated that her children, at times, make fun of her limited English: “Si vamos a algún lado quiero hacerme entender con el poco inglés que sé. Y mi hija me dice: ‘Mamá,¡no se dice así! ¡Pero tú tampco me aydas!’ A veces, no queda más remedio que hablar nuestro propio idioma. | If we go somewhere I want to make myself understood with the little English that I know. And my daughter tells me, ‘Mom, that is not how you say it!’ ‘But you don’t help me either!’ Sometimes, there is no other option than to speak our own language.” A second participant responded: “Pero si ayudamos a nuestros hijos en estas circunstancias, ¡imagínense si supiéramos el idioma [inglés]! | But if we help our children under these circumstances, just imagine if we knew the [English] language!” A third participant stated:“Sí, el idioma. Como comentó, ahí es donde no puedo ayudar a mi hija. Me muestra las tareas que yo no entiendo. | Yes, the language. As she commented – that is where I can’t help my daughter. She shows me homework assignments that I don’t understand.”

Across both focus group discussions and individual interviews, Spanish-speaking parents reported that they would be more involved in their children’s school-based activities if they were better able to communicate and express themselves in the host language, i.e., English. “El idioma, por unos momentos, me dificulta involucrarme. | The language, at times, makes it difficult for me to get involved.” Although Spanish-speaking parents acknowledged translators that are available during specific meetings, such as Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) or parent-teacher conferences, they continued to report language barriers that hampered their ability to adequately express their ideas or concerns. That is, language barriers persisted and reduced their levels of school-based parental involvement. “Si las maestras no hablan Español, es muy difícil. Es porque yo les quiero decir algo y ellas entienden otra cosa […] Aparte de eso, los traductores también a veces no dicen correctamente lo que uno quiere decir. Entonces, es como si uno (takes a deep breath) se atascara. Mejor me quedo en silencio. | If the teachers do not speak Spanish, it is very difficult. It is because I want to tell them one thing and they understand something else […] Apart from that, the translators also sometimes do not correctly say what one wants to say. Then, it is like one (takes a deep breath) gets stuck. Instead, I stay silent.”

Discussion

This qualitative study explored the conceptualization of parental involvement and compared the experiences of low-SES English- and Spanish-speaking parents during their children’s elementary school years. Results from this study identified five themes illustrating key differences in parental involvement practices. First, both low-SES English- and Spanish-speaking parents endorsed low levels of parent-teacher communication, consistent with previous literature (Perrigo et al., 2022). However, qualitative findings from this study revealed important and subtle differences between English- and Spanish-speaking parents. Specifically, Spanish-speaking parents mostly relied on parent-teacher conferences to learn about their children’s academics; While English-speaking parents took advantage of both parent-teacher conferences and technological platforms, including e-mail and school-related apps, such as ClassDojo.

These differences intersect with the language barrier theme that was strongly endorsed by Spanish-speaking parents. Study themes related to low parent-teacher communication and language barriers have been identified in prior work (Antony-Newman, 2019; Good et al., 2010; Petrone, 2016; Tarasawa & Waggoner, 2015; Zarate, 2007) and echo the importance of broadening the scope of parental involvement, particularly to include an expanded understanding of the different ways academic parental involvement is experienced. In the present study, Spanish-speaking parents reported hindrances to engage in academic activities and communications because they did not speak the host language, i.e., English, often times feeling unable to communicate with their children’s teachers. Previous studies show that teachers can also be intimidated by language barriers (Wassell et al., 2017). As technology becomes a more frequently utilized tool within educational settings it is critical that the advantages it has on parental involvement and academic achievement are accessible to Spanish-speaking parents and their children. Parents and teachers need more systematic, organized, and institutional approaches to involvement that could establish common expectations, patterns, and protocols to facilitate parent-teacher communication and interactions. Importantly, these system-level approaches, along with mitigation of barriers to involvement should be the responsibility of schools, not parents. Placing such responsibilities on parents may exacerbate educational inequalities for diverse student subgroups (Antony-Newman, 2019).

Both low-SES Spanish- and English-speaking parents shared educational aspirations for their children, but how that gets instilled varied between groups. Consistent with prior work (Lopez, 2001), educational aspirations, highlighted how low-SES Spanish-speaking parents involve their children in their work to demonstrate their own employment conditions and reinforce the benefits of academic achievement. Similar to the study theme of a parent-centered approach, the practice of instilling academic aspirations onto their children can both be understood and quantified as complementary resources to traditionally-frame parental involvement that some Spanish-speaking families use to socialize their children. Research indicates these aspirations are common among working-class immigrants (Antony-Newman, 2019).

Related to the parent-centered approach theme, the educación theme highlights Spanish-speaking parents’ values of promoting practical skills and morals in their children with the notion that their educational and occupational success will benefit from these parental involvement practices. Both English- and Spanish-speaking parents want their children to have a better life and with Spanish-speaking parents, we see that they are very intentional about instilling educación principles guided by the notion that this will promote their academic success.

The theme of educación aligns with prior research comparing the expectations of parental involvement within a Mexican context, where parents were expected to focus their involvement on teaching their children practical life skills as opposed to academic skills (Petrone, 2016; Zarate, 2007). While prior work identifies these cultural norms within a Mexican context (Petrone, 2016), the current study illustrates cultural misalignment between the parental involvement expectations of Spanish-speaking parents broadly, many who grew up in different educational and geographical contexts within the U.S. These cultural nuances hold implications – they have the potential to increase barriers to parental involvement by delegitimizing parental involvement practices of diverse ethnic groups and can result in missed opportunities to partner with parents of diverse backgrounds to promote students’ academic performance and achievement (Antony-Newman, 2019). The theme of educación presents an important cultural distinction of how language and cultural interpretations must be considered when defining parental involvement practices across racial and ethnic groups. Specifically, the perspectives of low-SES Spanish-speaking parents in the present study highlight the value placed on their children’s moral compasses as a compliment to their education and their efforts to build such morals parallel efforts to propel their children’s academic success. Yet, our education system is developed and geared toward English-speaking families and students. Such efforts may dismay Spanish-speaking parents and cause some of them to retreat. We need to empower Spanish-speaking families and make system-level changes.

We also see that low-SES Spanish-speaking parents may be left out of opportunities to engage in traditional parent involvement activities like communicating with teachers, reinforcing academic expectations, and engaging in enrichment activities due to language barriers that limit awareness of and access to information and opportunities to be involved in their child’s school-based education. It is important that school communities initiate and engage in dialogs with parents at the outset to develop a mutual understanding of the parents and school capacities for involvement and to outline how their complementary roles and practices can be used to support student academic engagement and achievement. Schools can increase parental involvement by establishing inclusive practices such as creating a welcoming school environment and engaging in useful and accessible communication and messaging (Park & Holloway, 2018).

Limitations

The study findings should be interpreted in the context of the study limitations. First, familial contextual strains were not directly explored. Previous work has identified creative modes of parental involvement that diverged from conventional understandings, including conceptualizations of “family” involvement (e.g., siblings support) and activating informal enrichment activities (Perrigo et al., 2022). Stress around homework (amount and efficacy factors) and additional familial strains can also limit parental involvement (Pressman et al., 2015). Although all families were low-SES and endorsed work responsibilities as a barrier to parental involvement, additional research is needed to understand the multi-faceted familial strains that impact parental involvement. While this work adds to the mounting evidence across the U.S. demonstrating similar and consistent parental involvement practices for low-SES Spanish-speaking parents, the study was conducted in a specific geographical location, with a specific group of parents. Geographic and selection biases minimizes the capacity to generalize our findings to other settings and groups of parents (Martin et al., 2012). Last, the immigrant status of study participants may be an important factor related to their particular parental involvement practices- however this information was not collected as it was not within the scope of this work – additional research is needed with immigrant families.

Conclusion

Although some educators misinterpret Latino families as being disinterested or uninvolved in their children’s education (Grace & Gerdes, 2019; McQuiggan & Megra, 2017), this study offers empirical evidence that challenges that notion. Spanish-speaking families are highly involved in their children’s academic development and perceive themselves to play a critical role, working in congruence with teachers to promote their child’s educational and occupational success. What is missing, however, is a shared understanding of values including culturally responsive measures to assess diverse parental involvement practices, and adopting a cultural lens among teachers and educators and develop strategies to close the academic achievement gap that accommodate diverse cultural beliefs and practices around parental involvement.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Michael Hurlburt, Jessica Borja, MSW, Lucy Gonzalez, MSW, and all the CHECC families who participated in this study. Research reported in this manuscript was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under grant number R01DK114238. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of any supporting institutions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [R01DK114238].

Notes

¹ The authors intentionally selected to use the label “Latino” instead of “Latinx” for two primary reasons. First, all participants in the current study referred to themselves as “Latinos” or “Hispanic.” Second, a 2020 Pew Research Center poll found that only 23% of U.S. adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino had heard of the term Latinx (Noe-Bustamante et al., 2020) and a recent Gallup poll found that only 4% of people preferred “Latinx” as the label of choice to describe their ethnic group.

² Throughout this article, we capitalize “Latino” and “Black” but not “white” as descriptors of racial groups. Black and Latino represents a group of people that shares many histories and cultures, while white represents a social construct stemming chiefly from colonization, oppression, and power, more as a negation of other groups of people than a descriptor of a group with shared experiences and culture (Dumas, 2016).