Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to determine what shapes Latinx parents’ educational expectations and aspirations. The Latinx population continues to grow and expand throughout the United States and finding better ways to serve this growing population is important. The challenge is to find a way to help Latinx families accomplish their higher educational goals. To address this need, this study has two main goals. First, I investigate how parents’ nativity and highest degree attained shape aspirations and expectations for their children’s educational achievement. Second, this study examines how these parental sociodemographic statuses shape the level of involvement in their kid’s school. Using the data from Latino National Surveys 2006, this study investigates how nativity and English proficiency level influenced Latinx parents’ educational aspirations and expectations for their children. I also examined the impacts of parents’ nativity status and English proficiency level on their involvement in their children’s school and experiences with the school officials. The findings from the data revealed that nativity was an important factor in determining parent’s educational aspirations and expectations as well as their experience with school officials, however nativity did not determine their school involvement. While English proficiency proved a key factor for parents’ school involvement, but not for positive experience with school officials. Nevertheless, English proficiency did not influence parents’ educational aspiration nor expectations. These findings add to the existing literature on parents’ educational aspirations and expectations for their children.