Running Head: Immigrant Perspectives

Immigrant Perspectives on Parental Involvement and

Education in the United States
Chelsey Thomas
Seattle University

Immigrant Perspectives

Immigrant Perspectives on Parental Involvement and

Education in the United States

Schools throughout the United States place emphasis and value on parental
involvement in childrens education both in the school environment and at home.
Research has shown that if parents are actively engaged in their childrens learning then
children are more likely to succeed. (Moon, 2009)

Because 1 out of 5 youths in

American schools today are children of immigrants (Lahaie, 2008) it is important for
educators to be aware of the various ways in which these children are supported by their
parents in their education.
According to current research, both the definition of parental involvement and the
expectations that accompany it in the American school system are not fully understood by
immigrant groups (Carreon, 2005; Ramirez, 2003).

Participating in traditionally

American ways, including parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, and extracurricular and volunteer activities, is often unfamiliar and uncomfortable for immigrant
parents due to linguistic and cultural differences between them and native born parents
and teachers (Ramirez, 2003). Furthermore, immigrant parents do not appear to consider
involvement at the school itself to be paramount to their participation in their childrens
education at home (Carreon, 2005). Because the majority of the existing literature on
immigrant parental involvement focuses largely on their participation in the school
environment, more research is needed to explore the various ways immigrant parents are
effective in promoting learning at home (Lahaie, 2008). Furthermore, current focus has
primarily been on the largest immigrant groups in the U.S., (i.e.: Asian, Latin American,

Immigrant Perspectives

and Caribbean). Therefore additional research should target parents from less populous
immigrant groups such as those originating from countries in Africa or Europe, in order
for future researchers and educators to assess the similarities and differences that exist
between ethnicities in respect to parental involvement practices.
Literature Review
Researchers examining the parental involvement of immigrant parents in the
academic lives of their children, do so from many different standpoints. However, the
general consensus is that parental involvement has a direct impact on whether immigrant
children succeed in the American school system.

Current research suggests that

immigrant parents have a strong desire to see their children succeed academically, but
often encounter linguistic, cultural and socioeconomic barriers that keep them from fully
participating in the typically American way. (Carreon, 2005; Ramirez, 2003).
Furthermore, research in this area is relatively recent and limited and the existing studies
tend to focus on the school environment, rather than parent participation at home.
Qualitative studies performed by Ramirez and Carreon point out the importance
of examining the home environment, as this is where parents feel more comfortable and
effective in engaging in their childrens learning (Carreon, 2005; Ramirez 2003). Both
studies focused primarily on examining engagement from the perspective of the parents
themselves through the use of informal individual and group interviews and school
observation. Strengths in these qualitative studies include Carreons use of detailed
analysis and coding procedures in order to make sound interpretations supporting his
findings (Carreon, 2005) and Ramirezs contribution of practical suggestions for
overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers in the school system. Limitations include

Immigrant Perspectives

Ramirezs lack of detailed analysis and coding procedures, the short nature of his study
and evident bias throughout his analysis.

Overall limitations concern the in-

generalizability of findings to immigrant ethnic groups other than Asians and Latin
Americans and the lack of qualitative studies in the existing body of literature.
The available quantitative studies on this topic are well researched, empirically
sound and cover a diverse range of topics illuminating the many factors that influence the
parental involvement of immigrants in the United States. Methods include analysis of the
National Education Longitudinal Study by both Kao and Lahaie, who were able to
determine patterns in immigrant parental involvement over time, including parenting
style and correlation between GPA and parental involvement (Kao, 2004; Lahaie, 2008).
Moons study is also well supported via sound methods including surveys, purposive
sample design (Koreans & Mexicans), and regression analysis (Moon, 2009). Moon
pointed to a number of predictors for parental involvement, concluding that parenting
style and education level had a significant impact on childrens success. (Moon, 2009)
Limitations of the quantitative studies are not in methods but again in the ingeneralizability of results to immigrant groups other than those from Asia and Latin
America and the lack of attention on the home environment.
Purpose
Considering the existing literature regarding parental involvement practices of
immigrant parents in the United States, this proposal seeks to add depth to the current
body of knowledge in three ways. First, this study will be qualitative in nature as the
majority of studies on this topic are quantitative. Providing qualitative evidence is
important in educational research so that researchers not only make statistical

Immigrant Perspectives

connections between phenomena, but also attempt to fully understand how and why
relationships exist in order to construct effective interventions. Second, because research
on immigrant parental involvement in the home is limited, this study will focus
exclusively on the home environment and examine the ways in which children are
supported academically in that sphere. Finally, subjects will be selected from underrepresented populations in the current literature, specifically immigrants from the African
countries of Ethiopia and Somalia. The study will mimic that of Carreon in many ways,
with relevant variations, in order to determine if common themes exist and whether his
findings can be generalized to these populations.
Terms
The most relevant term to understand in this study is parental involvement.
However, because involvement is commonly defined in the current literature in relation
to American cultural norms, the researcher seeks to redefine it from the perspective of the
study participants. The researcher will specifically ask participants to define parental
involvement and what it means to them, then will expand on this definition through the
data analysis and theory development process.
Subjects
This study will focus on immigrant parents residing in Seattle, Washington whose
country of origin is either Ethiopia or Somalia, and will be conducted over a period of 3
years. The sample size will be relatively small in order to take an in-depth look at
phenomena and will include 10 Somali families and 10 Ethiopian families in total. The
sample will be purposive and researchers will select parents whose children attend school
in the Rainier Valley neighborhood of Seattle, as this area has a high concentration of

Immigrant Perspectives

African immigrants (Littles Erickson, 2011) and will likely provide access to the most
participants. Location and specific schools to target will be assessed in the preliminary
stages of recruitment and will be subject to change based on ability to secure participants.
In his study, Carreon (2005) was able to achieve a sample size of 17 families by inviting
parents to participate through letters sent home with their children, flyers posted at the
schools, presentations at parent-related events and direct invitations from their teachers
(p. 472). Because this sampling procedure proved effective, the same procedure will be
used for the purposes of this study. Possible sampling bias is the assumption that
Ethiopian and Somali immigrants might have similar perspectives on parental
involvement without prior knowledge that this is valid.
Instruments for Data Collection
Data will be collected in three ways, through observation, individual interviews
and informal conversation groups. With the permission of participants, a researcher
fluent in participants language (likely Somali or Amharic) and English, will observe
parent and child interaction in the home while doing homework for 2 hours a day (subject
to individual schedules) biweekly.

The researcher will be a complete observer and

collect data via field notes and audio recordings with permission. Complete observation
is necessary so that researchers can, from an outsiders perspective, understand the nature
of parental involvement for these groups in their natural setting.
Individual interviews will be conducted every 3 months to examine the facets of
involvement from the perspective of each parent. Interviews like these are important to
assess individual perspectives and determine if themes occur in the two immigrant
populations being studied. Meetings will take place in the most convenient location for

Immigrant Perspectives

the participants and will be conducted by the same researcher that is present in the
participants home for observation. Sample questions might include the following:
1.
2.

Is involvement in your childrens education a daily priority for you?

If so, what are some of the specific ways in which you assist your

3.

children at home?
Are these methods consistent with how you would approach

4.

education in your country of origin?

Do you think your efforts impact your childrens academic
performance in any way?

The questions will be carefully reviewed to ensure cultural appropriateness, respect and
relevance.
Finally, relatively informal conversation groups will also be held every 6 months
in order for parents to discuss their individual methods with others in the study, assess
their effectiveness and reflect on participation in the study itself. These meetings will take
place in a reserved space in one of the participants schools for easy accessibility and
familiarity purposes. Refreshments will be provided and meetings will begin with 15-20
minutes of mingling and informal conversation. Researchers will then facilitate and pose
questions to start the more formalized portion of the discussion sessions, but will
primarily observe and take detailed field notes throughout. Observing group discussion
will help researchers to further identify commonalities and differences in parenting
involvement practices between cultural groups.

Immigrant Perspectives

Research Design
This study will follow grounded theory research design. Carreon developed his
own theories of immigrant parental involvement by using the same design, but he focused
only on Asian and Latin American populations. The researcher seeks to first develop
possible theories from the data collected that are relevant to the experience of Ethiopian
and Somali parents and then determine if similarities exist in the experiences of the
populations in Carreons work.
Possible threats to internal validity might include subject effects. Due to the
nature of data being collected via home observations, subjects may react in an unnatural
way because a stranger is observing them. In addition, the effect of participating in the
study in general might cause parents to show more effort or interest in their childrens
academics than usual. This may be a biased assumption, but one worth noting. However,
because the study will be conducted over a period of 3 years, the subjects will likely
become more comfortable with the observers and natural behavior will likely emerge.
Possible limits to external validity might include researcher bias. Because the
researcher will eventually look for similarities in Carreons data, subconscious efforts to
make connections that may not exist may occur. Further bias might be the researchers
assumption that the participants will be culturally similar due to the geographic proximity
of Ethiopia and Somalia. The researcher can mitigate these threats by keeping constantly
aware of their existence when examining and interpreting data and keeping an open
dialogue about the findings/biases with fellow researchers and assistants helping to
perform the study.

Immigrant Perspectives

Methods for analysis will be similar to Carreon in that researchers will utilize
both open and axial coding processes.

These processes are useful in developing

grounded theory because researchers first break data into simple categories and then work
to reassemble that data into connected themes or concepts to aid in theory development
(Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Researchers seek to develop a working theory or theories,
regarding the parental involvement practices of the participants, and will draw links and
conclusions with the existing body of literature on the topic. Member checks for validity
will also be used in order to make sure participants perceptions match the data collected
by the researchers and corrections can be made where necessary.
Conclusion
Expected outcomes of this study include adding significant data to the existing
literature in order to provide educators and researchers in Seattle and elsewhere with
culturally relevant knowledge regarding the parental involvement practices of immigrants
from African countries. In understanding these practices educators can better evaluate
current interventions and support services for these populations and make adjustments or
create more appropriate ones if necessary. In that same vein, researchers seek to provide
others with relevant data for comparison with other ethnic groups and determine whether
recurring themes are evident and if they are generalizable. Futhermore, in pointing out
the limited existence of qualitative research on this topic and its necessity, the researcher
seeks to encourage peers to conduct additional qualitative studies of immigrant parental
involvement in general as well as for under-represented populations.
One important aspect of this study is to determine if generalizability of data to
immigrant groups in the United States as a whole is possible or appropriate. However,

Immigrant Perspectives

10

limits to that generalizability may include cultural differences between ethnicities and
countries of origin within the sample as well as applicability to ethnicities outside of the
sample. Additional limits may include socioeconomic factors of different ethnicities,
which may serve to enhance or limit parental involvement and are not a specific focus of
the proposed research. Further attention and research on the many facets of immigrant
parental involvement will add to the current body of knowledge and serve to help
mitigate these limitations.

Immigrant Perspectives

11

References
Carren, G., Drake, C., & Barton, A. (2005). The Importance of Presence: Immigrant
Parents School Engagement Experiences. American Educational Research
Journal, 42(3), 465-498.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research. 3EThousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications, Inc.
Kao, G. (2004). Parental Influences on the Educational Outcomes of

Immigrant

Youth. International Migration Review, 38(2), 427-449.

Littles Erickson, O. City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods. (2011).
Neighborhoods southeast seattle community history project . Retrieved November
30, 2012, from
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/southeastseattle/pdf/SE
%20Report%20-%20African%20American%20Heritage.pdf
Lahaie, C. (2008). School Readiness of Children of Immigrants: Does Parental
Involvement Play a Role?. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing
Limited), 89(3), 684-705.
Moon,S., Kang,S., & Ang, Soonok,. (2009). Predictors of Immigrant Childrens School
Achievement: A Comparative Study. Journal Of Research In Childhood
Education, 23(3), 278-289.
Ramirez, A. (2003). Dismay and Disappointment: Parental Involvement of Latino
Immigrant Parents. The Urban Review, 35(2), 93-110.

Immigrant Perspectives

12