Building communal cultural capital: Using organizational habitus to increase parental involvement and student achievement in a magnet school

The relationship between parental involvement and student achievement is well documented in research literature and No Child Left Behind legislation; however, the levels of parental involvement vary according to local context demographic variables. The purpose of this study was to determine if a magnet school situated in a northeast urban setting could harness its organizational habitus to build communal cultural capital to benefit its diverse family and student population. The researcher used a mixed method research design including questionnaires, surveys, and the adaptation of the ANOVA model to match better the approach to gathering and analyzing data in answering the research questions. Through the collection of survey data from school leaders, staff, and parents, the researcher conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study leading to the following analysis and results. First, a School Leader Survey identified parent qualities valued within the local setting, thus allowing a contextual definition of cultural capital. Next, staff and parents completed questionnaires to assess parental involvement practices. Teacher data framed parent practices related to the specific measures put in place to increase involvement. The data collected ascertained whether parental involvement practices were evenly applied across the demographic variables of parent level of education, family income, and race/ethnicity using responses from the parent survey. The findings revealed that the use of organizational habitus as a vehicle to increase parent involvement was effective. However, the application of ANOVA analyses showed there were statistically significant differences between the source of invitations for involvement including general invitations, child demands, and school invitations with demographic variables. The researcher also conducted a comparison of pre and post reading and math assessment scores. The result revealed an overall increase in students' achievement in both reading and math scores for students in first through fifth grades using a standardized measurement. In conclusion, implications of this study for future research suggest that organizational habitus may be a factor in building communal cultural capital to mitigate the impact of demographic variables traditionally associated with low student achievement.