Abstract
Previous research focused on schools that serve low-income and minoritized communities has demonstrated that families often do not feel that their schools are receptive to family involvement. This interview study, which comes out of a long-term ethnographic project at a rural school that primarily served low-income, African American families, reports on the ways that mothers in this school felt welcomed by school staff during their children’s first three years of schooling (Prekindergarten to Grade 1). Many of the parents identified the rural context as contributing to their positive feelings about involvement with the school because the context supported long-term relationships with school staff, and the small school allowed parents to feel that both they and their children were known. Mothers reported that these characteristics supported their efforts to intervene on behalf of their children.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1461468. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.
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Parks, A.N. How do African American Mothers in a Rural Community Perceive Resources for Supporting Family Involvement in the Early Years?. Early Childhood Educ J 46, 557–565 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0882-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0882-6