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…

This study explores the parents' perceptions about the meaning and importance of various life skills education as tool for empowering young children, and about the role of schools and parents in stimulating these skills. The study was qualitative, involving a sample of 30 parents of secondary-level students selected through convenience sampling.…

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…

Children and adolescents who experience parental incarceration are faced with significant challenges. Additionally, parental incarceration disproportionally affects African American families and families in urban settings. Due to institutional, economic, and social barriers, access to community mental health services for these affected children…

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…

Latinos, particularly Mexican immigrants, are the fastest-growing population in the United States but lag behind others in educational attainment. Parent involvement in their child's education has been linked to positive student academic outcomes, but few studies have focused specifically on Latino/a parents. To identify and promote culturally…

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,…

Empowerment, accountability and redress are prime objectives of school funding in the new South Africa. This is facilitated through the National Norms and Standards for School Funding. The application of the norms has led to the development of a "no-fee school" policy aimed at exempting poor parents from payment of school fees. The…

Background/Context: This study examines the tactics that Haitian immigrant parents used to negotiate the boundaries around home and school, presenting the possibility that families play an active and deliberate role in creating distance between the worlds of home and school. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The following…

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…