Barriers and Facilitators to School-Based Parent Involvement for Parents of Urban Public Middle School Students

Kantahyanee W Murray; Nadine Finigan-Carr; Vanya Jones; Nikeea Copeland-Linder; Denise L Haynie; Tina L Cheng

doi:10.1177/2158244014558030

Barriers and Facilitators to School-Based Parent Involvement for Parents of Urban Public Middle School Students

Sage Open. 2014;4(4):10.1177/2158244014558030. doi: 10.1177/2158244014558030. Epub 2014 Nov 18.

Authors

Kantahyanee W Murray¹, Nadine Finigan-Carr², Vanya Jones³, Nikeea Copeland-Linder⁴, Denise L Haynie⁵, Tina L Cheng⁶

Affiliations

¹ Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, USA.
² University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ Trinity Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
⁵ Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

Using semistructured interviews, we explored barriers and facilitators to school-based parent involvement (SBPI) in a sample of predominately African American parents (N = 44) whose children attended urban public middle schools. Barriers to SBPI (e.g., perceptions of hostile parent-teacher interactions and aggressive, disrespectful students in the school) were more commonly reported than facilitators (e.g., child invitations for involvement). Findings suggest that parents' motivations for engaging in SBPI may be undermined by a variety of barriers, resulting in low participation. Implications and tailored strategies for enhancing SBPI in this population are presented.

Keywords: middle schools; parent participation; urban; violence.

Abstract

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