ABSTRACT
Over the past three and a half decades parental involvement has surfaced as a major force to reduce academic failure and promote students’ educational success (Booth and Dunn, 1996; Coleman et al., 1966; Purkey and Smith, 1985). A variety of empirical research has demonstrated that parental involvement can improve the educational achievement of elementary and secondary school students in both White and racial/ethnic minority populations (Chavkin, 1993; Epstein, 1986; Marburger, 1990). Educational experts concur on the need to increase parental involvement, and to create a stronger homeschool relationship among Mexican American families. It is believed that this stronger relationship will, in turn, increase the educational achievement of all children (Harrison et al., 1990; Laosa, 1982; Slaughter-Defoe et al., 1990). Unfortunately, much of the research on parental involvement fails to include families of Mexican decent. This creates a disturbing gap in our understanding of family-school relations among one of the fastest growing segments of the United States population (see Valencia, Chapter 2, present book). The purpose of this chapter is to closely examine the relationship between Chicano families and the schools with an emphasis on Mexican American parental involvement. Our discussion is organized around four sections: (a) parental involvement: a brief overview; (b) exposing the myth: Mexican Americans do not value education; (c) Chicano parental involvement: What do we know?; (d) future directions for understanding Chicano families and schools.
