Parent engagement in middle school has the potential to yield positive effects on the academic success of students and contribute to a growth in a feeling of self-worth. Parents want the best for their children and based on their own experiences, they do what they can to support their children in school and beyond. This study examined the stories…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how the application of the community cultural wealth model can help raise the capacity of first-generation Latino at-promise youth towards finding greater educational success in a secondary school setting. Participants included first generation Latino at-promise students and their parents…

The idea that we ought to help young people with underlying issues, rather than simply pressure them back to school has gained traction in the literature on absence from school. However, this discussion has not considered how help and control are intertwined. The following is a Foucault inspired qualitative study of absence interventions in a…

This article features a collaborative autoethnographic examination of three adolescent-researchers' digital literacies. The participatory design punctuates the role of the adolescent-researchers as they explored their meaning-making practices. Such collaborative research, which included three adolescents and their parents, not only resurfaces…

This paper explores the phenomenon of perilous politics of school leadership for social justice, in order to strengthen social equity for educational development. School leadership for social justice emphasizes that leaders can make efforts to pursue equitable relationships of gender, class, race, culture, etc. Therefore, it stresses the…

Parent empowerment involves the ability of caregivers to meet the needs of their family while maintaining feelings of control and is particularly important for families of children at-risk. It is necessary to establish reliable and valid tools to measure parent empowerment. The purpose of this study was to examine the internal factor structure,…

This study examines a grassroots, school-centered parent and family organizing effort from the actual "trenches" in the struggle for equity and excellence in education. This is an exploration of the intrinsic value and the complex dynamics of the organizing process of a small group of Latino immigrant parents struggling to improve their children's…

This study examined the association of perceived social support and community empowerment among urban middle-school students living in Matamoros, Mexico and the risk behaviors of fighting, alcohol and tobacco use, and sexual activity. Middle school students (n = 1,181) from 32 public and private Mexican schools were surveyed. Weighted multiple…

This professional development series is designed to accompany and help put into practice the ideas in Eric Toshalis and Michael J. Nakkula's Students at the Center paper, "Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice," and their chapter, "Prioritizing Motivation and Engagement," in "Anytime, Anywhere: Student-Centered…

This article explores the emergence of La Familia Initiative, a Latino parent-organizing project at a public middle school. Motivated by their urgency to improve their children's schooling and enhance their opportunities for a better high school experience in the future, the participants organize to establish a more inclusive partnership with the…