Parental involvement is an integral variable that bears a significant value in the overall academic achievement and learning process of a student's educational journey. Therefore, all parents should play a major role in their children's academic success from elementary through middle and high school. The prime focus of this research was to examine the perceptions of Title I middle school teachers and find strategies to build effective relationships between the school and home. This qualitative phenomenological study utilized Vygotsky's (1978) Socio-cultural theory and semi-structured interviews to gather a firm understanding of the teachers' perceptions of parental involvement and parent-teacher partnerships in Title I schools and the different ways parents are involved in their children's social and academic achievement. Eight participants were interviewed for this study. The data was analyzed using Moustakas (1994) phenomenological data analysis and the results were based on Vygotsky's (1978) three central tenets: social interactions, zone of proximal development, and the more knowledgeable other. Parent-teacher partnership is crucial at the middle school level. Teachers should receive continuous professional development training to include workshops to assist them in developing effective strategies to encourage parent involvement and close the gap between schools and diverse families. Future research should focus on other educational levels in other areas or school districts to include private and charter schools to gain a better understanding of how to bridge the gap in parent-teacher partnerships among diverse families. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]