Negotiating constraints and opportunities for capital (trans)formation: Stories of Latino parents' involvement in their children's education

The benefits of parent involvement for promoting children's development and fostering success in school and later life are well known. However, little agreement exists about how best to obtain high participation from all families, particularly minority and low-income families. Social and organizational contexts play an important role in shaping parents' ability to develop their cultural capital and social networks. Yet, little is known about the contexts that influence Latino parent involvement in their children's schooling. Churches, as one such context, frequently offer extensive outreach to minorities and immigrant populations, but the research literature on their role in fostering parent involvement in their children's education is scant. The role of social service agencies which also offer substantial outreach to the newly arrived is not well understood.; Against the backdrop of Latino's adjustment process following immigration, this research seeks to analyze the meaning of Latino parent involvement based on generational status and educational attainment level. I propose that Latino parent background characteristics (namely, generational status and educational attainment levels) affect the resources (i.e., the cultural, social and decision-making capital) that parents harness in getting involved in their children's schooling. In turn, how parents decide to get involved in their children's schooling influences the nature of their subsequent participation in activities such as communicating with school officials, volunteering, parenting, student learning at home and school decision-making.; Using a qualitative methodology (based on in-depth interviews), this hypothesis generating study provides rich, descriptive analysis of Latino parents' cultural and social capital transformation and the subsequent influence of their social and organizational contexts on their decision-making capital and involvement in discrete parent involvement activities. By detailing the many contextual specifics underlying Latino parents' decision-making and participation, this study elucidates Latino parents' unique needs and perspectives in selecting and participating in their children's schooling. Further, it analyzes how churches and social service agencies shape parents' cultural and social capital transformation.