A Case Study of School-Linked, Collective Parent Engagement

Abstract

This article explores the social processes and outcomes associated with a school-linked, community-based program that successfully engages Latino parents and children in a low-income school community. Framed by an ethnographic, embedded case study design, the authors collected data from 32 Latino parents. The findings detail parents’ experiences when first entering the neighborhood and how these experiences shape their engagement with other parents in the program and neighborhood community. We conclude that efforts engaging low-income parents as communities of practice hold special promise for reducing barriers to children’s learning, especially when school leaders, community-based organizations, and social researchers leverage their resources and capital in ways that support parents’ efforts, insights, and aspirations.