Parent University: Strategies for Increasing Latino Parental School Involvement

The goal of the research was to explore how participating in a Parent University impacted twenty-seven Latino middle and high school parents and their ability to support their children in school. The study was a mixed methods study that included a pre-post survey with Likert scale and open-ended questions. Before the program started, twenty of the twenty-seven Latino parents indicated that they did not communicate with their child’s teacher, school staff or even the principal before the program, but after the program 100% indicated they always attended the child’s parent teacher conferences. In the pre-survey, 12 out of 27 (44%) parents said that the school has never helped them become involved in their child’s education, after the program twenty-one (78%) responded in the post survey that the school always helps them become involved in their child’s education. Also in the pre-survey, 15 out of the 27 (56%) parents in the program responded that they did not feel motivated to participate in parent programs at school and after the program concluded, 27 out of 27 (100%) parents said that they do feel motivated to participate in parent programs at school. Parent Universities and other programs similar could increase Latino parental school involvement and possibly increase student success.