Family Perspectives On Home-School Connections And Family Engagement

This case study explored the context and perceptions of school-home connections and family engagement of four middle class Latin American families who have children in U.S. public schools. Because family engagement with schools correlates with student success, the participants' perspectives were examined through open-ended and in-depth biographical interviews, informal conversations, observations, and collages. There appears to be a paucity of qualitative research examining the perspectives of middle class Latin American immigrants. Therefore, the present case study enriches the current literature on Latin American families. The study was framed by critical theory and guided by the work of Freire (1998/2005) and Moll (Gonzalez et al., 2005). While the data indicated connectedness is especially important to the participants, the degree to which the schools connect with them is complex.