| The purpose of this study was to identify obstacles which prevent active participation at home and at school for economically disadvantaged families. Parental involvement has been recognized as one of the most important variables influencing student academic achievement (Henrich & Gadaire, 2008; Jeynes, 2007; Stewart, 2008). Recent history suggests that parental involvement is playing a much larger role than ever before in terms of student success. Overall, recent research has been extensive in the area of parental involvement and family engagement. The problem is that findings have varied in the analysis of the relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement, particularly in the Hispanic, African American, Asian and White subgroups (Hong & Ho, 2005). In addition to those variations, the majority of research surrounding parental involvement has focused on early age children as opposed to adolescents (Seyfried & Chung, 2002). Using Joyce Epstein's (2001) "spheres of influence" model as a framework, this research undertook a qualitative case study approach to identify the barriers to parental involvement for four purposively selected disadvantaged families in a suburban setting. Each family had at least one child attending a secondary level school. Interviews and observations were conducted in the participant's homes and at school. Data was analyzed following a constant comparative method (Merriam, 1998). The findings of the study identified three themes which included time constraints, homework assistance, and adolescent resistance to parental involvement as the greatest barriers for the four disadvantaged families. Implications of the findings may assist schools in creating targeted improvement plans which help overcome obstacles related to parental involvement. Additionally, findings may assist parents by identifying successful involvement strategies which help promote academic achievement and social growth. |
