This study employed an explanatory sequential design and mixed methods to investigate school principals' perspectives on parent-teacher associations (PTAs). The research involved a large sample of 3,606 school principals or senior managers who participated in a survey and a smaller subsample of 6 principals who engaged in a focus group interview…

The involvement of families in Spanish schools is a legally recognised right, a social demand, an educational need and a permanent challenge. However, there are limited opportunities for families to become engaged with schools in Spain. Their primary avenues for involvement are Parents' Associations ("Asociaciones de Madres y Padres de…

In California, a half century after the landmark "Serrano v. Priest" decision overturning the state's public school finance system because of the inequality between the state's school districts, a significant amount of wealth-based inequality in per-pupil expenditures continues to exist. One of the sources of this inequality is the…

This study examines parental involvement in urban public schools, focusing on how parents in organised school-centred networks support, navigate, and negotiate from their different social positions. The multiple case study of specialised music programmes provides insights into parent strategies and behaviours in intermediate practices between…

Wealthy parents in public school districts across the country are engaged in elaborate fund-raising efforts to improve the quality of education in their children's schools, giving them an advantage over families in schools without the same level of access to external resources. Through evaluating parent responses to district policies that address…

Recent policies in Ethiopia put students at the heart of school improvement through structures for peer leadership and school-level consultation, evaluation and decision-making. This article draws on an ethnographic study of a government school in Tigray, Ethiopia, to explore how the participation and influence of students is achieved and mediated…

Some parents and caregivers, frustrated by low academic performance of their local school, emphasis on testing, or the content of the curriculum, have worked independently or formed parent groups to speak out and demand improvements. Parents and families enact solutions such as opting out of tests, developing alternative curricula, invoking parent…

The academic achievement of children is a national concern. Thus, PTA focuses not only on individual schools, but also on the communities they serve. One of the innovative approaches to community involvement in education is the community PTA. Community PTAs are not tied to a single school, but instead offer membership and involvement to various…

This articles discusses the unification of Alabama's black and white Parent-Teacher Associations from 1954 to 1971. Alabama was one of the last PTA state units to desegregate in the late 1960s, along with Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. It was also the only state in which white members launched a successful…

A sustainable plan for arts education is not allocated in the operating costs of many elementary school districts. Arts education is becoming expendable, as budgets become tighter and emphasis is placed on test scores in accountable subject areas. High stakes testing, pre-identified supposed outcomes, and public concern about school productivity…

Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. For this reason, parents' involvement in their children's education is a priority of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." But a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills…