Abstract
Research on parental involvement has indicated that a child's education is associated with academic achievement. School districts and school officials recognize the importance in creating partnerships with families from diverse cultural backgrounds and socio-economic status in an effort to support children's academic success. Educators continue to seek ways to reach out to families, particularly families whose children under perform academically. Although the topic of parental involvement has been examined in several ways, few research studies have explored Latino parents' and teachers' perceptions ,towards parental involvement. This thesis examined the extent to which teachers' and Latino parents' perceptions towards parental involvement vary. Therefore, the current study aims to answer the following three questions:
1. Are there differences in teachers' and parents' perceptions toward schools encouragement?
2. Are there differences in teachers' and parents' perceptions toward Latino parents' academic support at home?
3. Are there differences in teachers' and parents' perceptions about Latino parents' self-initiative to become involve in school learning activities?
The researcher used two questionnaires developed by Dr. Margarita Gonzalez. The teacher questionnaire was in English while the Latino parent questionnaire was in Spanish. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to examine mean differences in parents' and teachers' perceptions of school encouragement, parental involvement at home and parents' own initiative to participate in their children's education.
Results showed that both Latino parents' and teachers' scores were not different with respect to school encouragement of parental involvement or parent self-initiative to become involved in school activities. However, Latino parents' and teachers' perceptions towards participation at home significantly different. Teachers were not sure whether or not parents participate in school activities while Latino parents perceived themselves as helping their children in school related activities at home. Results of this study are discussed in light of previous research, which suggests that parental participation at home contributes to student's academic achievement.