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High School Teachers and African American Parents: A (Not So) Collaborative Effort to Increase Student Success

Matt Wallace University of California, Davis

This is a case study about a group of African American parents that banded together in an effort to increase their own involvement, the involvement of other African American parents, and the success of African American students at one public high school. The various ways in which this group of parents sought to accomplish their goals, however, was not entirely embraced by school faculty. Consequently, their efforts were undermined and unutilized. The findings suggest that schools require parents, even when unified and with a common purpose, to comply with a specific protocol for involvement or risk being marginalized. It is argued that parent involve- ment is often based on support and compliance. Parents, moreover, are frequently regarded as one homogenous group, which ignores the varied experiences, visions, and values of ethnic minority parents.

Keywords: parent involvement, family-school relationships, exclusion, secondary schools

Introduction There are many advantages associated with parent involvement in education. Students with actively involved parents are, by and large, more engaged in the class- room (Mo & Singh, 2008), more positive about school and learning (Shumow & Miller, 2001), more likely to enroll in advanced courses (Henderson & Mapp, 2002), and less likely to drop out (Rumberger, 1995). Additionally, parent involvement has been positively linked to student grade point averages (Gutman & Midgley, 2000), includ- ing increased achievement in mathematics (Sheldon & Epstein, 2005), science (Van Voorhis, 2001) and language arts (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, & Weiss, 2006). Importantly, parents can be involved in a number of ways and to varying degrees. Some parents, for example, assume a home-based role that includes helping with homework and reinforcing suitable school behaviors. Other parents may take on a school-based approach, such as attending school meetings and events, or commu- nicating regularly with their children’s teachers. Each type of parent involvement, in combination with the individual needs of the child, can yield different academic results (Lee & Bowen, 2006). Nevertheless, research suggests that the more engaged parents are in their children’s education, the more likely their children are to suc- ceed in school (Eccles & Harold, 1993; Harris & Goodall, 2008).

Because it holds so much promise, parent involvement has been identified as a priority in the United States educational system (Elementary and Secondary Edu- cation Act, 2001). However, existing literature often suggests that there is a lack of ethnic minority parent involvement in schools broadly (Griffith, 1996; Ho, 2002) and a lack of African American parent involvement in particular (Hayes, 2011).

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Efforts to increase ethnic minority parent participation, furthermore, have been largely unsuccessful (Davies, 2002; Mannan & Blackwell, 1992; Padgett, 2006).

Although research suggests that many ethnic minority parents are not routinely involved in their children’s schooling, it would be both unsound and unfair to con- clude that they do not value education (as some teachers are prone to conclude). Some parents are very much committed to their children’s education but are restricted by language and culture barriers (Denessen, Bakker, & Gierveld, 2007; Pena, 2000), work schedules, child care (or lack thereof), and limited transportation (Harris & Goodall, 2008; Reglin, King, Losike-Sedime, & Ketterer, 2003). Other parents are reluctant to involve themselves too intimately in their child’s schooling due to feelings of incompetence (Crozier, 1999). That is to say, some parents believe teachers are the professionals and thus better suited to make decisions concerning their children’s education. Still other parents would like to be more involved at the school and at home, but feel schools only encourage their passive support and they “ought not to interfere with the job of teaching school curricula” (Smekar & Cohen-Vogel, 2001, p. 90).

But what happens when parents do “interfere”? Crozier (1996) followed six Black parents1 as they participated in their children’s schools. Of these six parents, five participated in “education-related activities or had contact with educational net- works” (p. 2), such as a Parent-Teacher Association or other school governing board. All six parents dedicated time to help their children with homework and other school projects. Additionally, all six parents regularly attended school meetings (e.g., back- to-school night) to keep informed about their children’s academic progress. However, when each of these parents expressed their concerns about their child’s school, such as the faculty’s inability to meet the needs of ethnic minority children, the faculty’s low expectations of Black children, and the faculty’s unwillingness to test Black chil- dren for either learning disabilities or accelerated education programs, their voices were silenced, their concerns overlooked, and their involvement criticized.

While the parents mentioned above represent only a small sample, the disregard of their concerns illustrates an alternative reason why ethnic minority parents are less involved—institutional barriers. Crozier (2001) contended that schools typically employ a “one size fits all approach” to parental involvement, which often margin- alizes ethnic minority parents. This approach, Crozier argued, not only ignores the individual needs, experiences, and roles that ethnic minority parents have in their children’s education, but it treats parents as a homogenous, undifferentiated group. He wrote:

Parental participation is not an invitation for a free for all; it is not open house on participation… Schools, it is argued, function on the basis of harmonization and unified vision and values. Parent participation thus poses a potential threat to this, in particular where the parent body holds diverse vision and values; the threat may be heightened when ethnic minority parents are involved, given the expectation or perception that their value positions will be different from the dominant positions. (p. 332)

When parents are involved in ways congruous with a school’s vision and values, they are considered “good” parents. Although this classification includes parents of all ethnicities, more often than not the “good” parent, just as the dominant culture, is White and middle-class. Set against this particular mold of a “good” parent, Crozier

1 Crozier used the term “Black” as a way of encompassing all of the participating parents in his research, five of which were of African-Caribbean origin and one of Indian origin.

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concluded that ethnic minority parents have only a few choices: assimilate, refrain from participating, or risk being ignored or discounted.

Lareau and Horvat (1999) defined such dismissive events as “moments of exclu- sion” (p. 38). That is, a situation where a parent’s inability to be involved in a fashion that educators deem appropriate ultimately leads that parent to be unrecognized and alienated by their child’s school. Similar to Crozier’s (2001) idea of the “good” parent, Lareau and Horvat contended that parents must behave and participate in ways judged acceptable by the school, such as being positive, supportive, and coop- erative. They argued, however, that this might be difficult for ethnic minority parents when involved in a possibly discriminatory school environment (e.g., lower expectations or harsher punishments for ethnic minority students). In Lareau and Horvat’s research, for example, one particular mother was dissatisfied with the race relations at her child’s school; she believed the school did not make the effort to celebrate historical African American figures in the same light as they did promi- nent White individuals; the school’s library did not have enough books about significant Black heroes; and after school detentions were unevenly distributed amongst minority students. When the mother informed school officials of the pat- terns of racial injustice, her claims were rejected and found “very upsetting” (p. 43) by the school’s principal. The teachers, moreover, thought the mother’s claims were unhelpful, illegitimate, and undermining of their authority. Because this particular mother was critical rather than supportive, her involvement led to a moment of exclusion and, perhaps worse, little change in school practice.

The aforementioned research suggests that many schools privilege parent involve- ment grounded in supportiveness, cooperation, and deference. A fair amount of lit- erature highlights the school-sanctioned ways in which parents must participate in order to be actively and effectively involved in their child’s school (e.g., Cullingford & Morrison, 1999; Eccles & Harold, 1993). An equal body of research literature is devoted to this narrow band of acceptable parent involvement as it relates to the distinct needs, roles, and values of ethnic minority parents (e.g., Bridgeland, Dilulio, Streeter, & Mason, 2008; Crozier & Davies, 2007; Denessen et al., 2007). However, most of this research focuses on the experiences of individual parents. In this par- ticular study, I explored the unified involvement of a group of parents. In what fol- lows, I present a unique case study in which a group of African American parents banded together in an effort to increase their own involvement, increase the involve- ment of other African American parents, and work to increase the success of African American students at one public high school. Although this group’s unified voice afforded them the opportunity to be more actively and effectively involved than perhaps any one of them individually would be, they nevertheless experienced some of the same institutional barriers to participation. Accordingly, the goals of this research are to (a) understand how this parent group was involved, and (b) identify the moments of exclusion that inhibited this parent group’s involve- ment in the school.

Methods

Context of the Study This study was conducted at Willard High School2 (WHS), a public institution located in a suburban city just south of a major metropolitan area in Northern California. At the time of this research, some 2,300 students were enrolled at WHS. Of the student

2 The name of the school, along with all other names used in this paper, are pseudonyms.

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population, 24% identify as African American, 24% percent identify as Caucasian, 18% identify as Hispanic, 18% identify as Asian American, and the remaining per- centage are classified as “other.” Nearly 41% of the student body qualified for free or reduced price lunch (California Department of Education [CDE], 2007a).

In contrast to the diverse student body, the faculty at WHS at the time of this research was relatively homogenous. Of the 104 teachers employed at the school, the majority identified Caucasian (80%), followed by Hispanic (9%), Asian (6%), African American (3%) and Filipino (2%). The average number of years of teaching experience for the entire staff was just over 11. Roughly 90% of all the teachers were certified to teach in the state of California and, per No Child Left Behind, a similar percentage were trained to teach culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Approximately 36% of the faculty held at least one advanced degree (CDE, 2007b).

On the whole and by a number of measures, WHS students were successful in school. A large percentage of students scored at or above proficient on their annual stan- dardized content tests, more than 80% of the students passed the High School Exit Exam as sophomores, students’ cumulative grade point average (GPA) was approxi- mately 2.5 (i.e., a C1 average), 90% of students graduated on time (CDE, 2007c), and over 70% of WHS graduates attended one of the many in-state post-secondary institutions immediately following graduation (California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2007).

When solely considering the African American students at WHS, however, the rate of success is much different. The average cumulative GPA of African American stu- dents at WHS was 2.10 (i.e., slightly above a C average), only a small percentage of African American students scored at or above proficient on their annual standardized content tests, and approximately 48% of African American students passed one or both of the High School Exit Exams as sophomores. Of the 268 suspensions due to behavioral code violations at WHS, 51% of the students were African American. What’s more, 66% of the on-campus suspensions (all day detentions assigned to students in lieu of sending them home for the day) were assigned to African American 9th and 10th grade students. Finally, 12.9% of African American students at WHS drop out before the end of their senior year (CDE, 2007d).

Role of the Researcher For five years prior to conducting this research and throughout its duration, I taught mathematics at WHS. Consequently, my role as teacher and my role as researcher were often blurred. In some instances, these entwined roles proved advantageous. As a teacher, for instance, my role involved attending staff meetings, private conversations with colleagues, and access to school-wide emails, data, and other documents not necessarily privy to a visiting researcher (more about this below). On the other hand, the time I spent working as a teacher at WHS undoubt- edly shaped my thoughts, interactions, and data that I collected as a researcher throughout this study.

While it may not be feasible to point out all the ways that these dual roles shaped this research, there are a few that are worth noting here. The clearest influence, perhaps, is linked to what I considered a disproportionate amount of ethnic minority students enrolled in my remedial math courses. This is not to suggest that this dis- parity was always the case, nor that it was a common experience for all teachers at WHS; rather that I, as a teacher, recognized an imbalance, labeled it as a problem, and began developing resolution ideas prior to exploring the thoughts of both parents and teachers (who may have thought otherwise).

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Prior to this research, almost every contact I had with parents was as a teacher. Although there is no suggestive evidence in the data, it is conceivable that the nature and quality of information these parents would safely share with another parent or with an outside researcher (who adheres to strict confidentiality policies) were with- held from me because I was viewed as a teacher (who is not necessarily expected to hold the same levels of confidentiality). In addition, while collecting data the parents would ask school-related questions of me that presumably would not be asked to an outside researcher (e.g., “When can a teacher give a student an on-campus sus- pension?”). From a research standpoint, it is not clear if or how much my responses to these questions shaped parents’ perspectives or information that they offered to me. Indeed, interacting with parents as a researcher and attempting to understand their involvement and interactions with WHS were complicated by the fact that I was also a teacher.

To say that I was a teacher at WHS would be incomplete, however, as I was more precisely an African American teacher. As one of the few Black educators on campus, I was sought out by this particular parent group for assistance in gaining teacher sup- port, developing programs, and participating in certain events. For struggling math students, for example, the parents solicited my help in tailoring a software program to bolster student understanding. In many respects, I was an ally to the parents of this group, which influenced my ability to explore their involvement at WHS impartially.

My position as both a teacher and a researcher at WHS also shaped the data that I collected from individual teachers. That is, I had a strong rapport with some (but not all) colleagues at WHS, and as a researcher I primarily worked with this group of teachers and administrators. Thus, the thoughts, comments, and so forth from individual faculty members that were collected for this study are not necessarily comprehensive or representative of all school faculty.

Data Collection The data in this study was collected over the course of four months at WHS. At the heart of this process was a series of in-depth, semi-structured group interviews with the leading parents of this particular group. Each group interview ranged in time from one to two hours, and was shaped around a small number of key questions concern- ing the reasons, purpose, and opportunities for involvement, and the relationships between the parents of this group and the school. Individual, often impromptu inter- views were also conducted with the aforementioned parents as well as other mem- bers of this group. These exchanges lasted anywhere from five minutes to one hour and often involved clarification or personal insights relating to topics discussed during the group interviews. Most interviews were recorded and subsequently tran- scribed; however, when a voice recorder was not available or deemed inappropriate for the setting, I relied on my memory in writing it down at a later time, making every effort to accurately represent what was said. In addition to the interviews, some participant observation data was also recorded, in the form of field notes, during monthly public parent group meetings, as well as during school programs and events organized by the parent group.

School data, in the form of interviews, observations, and public documents, were also collected as part of this study. All interviews conducted with teachers and administrators were informal and lasted at least 10 minutes. Because not every teacher was made aware of my research, and because of my positioning at the school, at the beginning of each interview I established my intent as a researcher, and I con- cluded by asking permission to use their comments. In other words, all discussions,

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comments, and the like that were trusted to me in confidence were not included in this research. Furthermore, field notes were only recorded during meetings or events open to the public, and school documents were only collected if they were public record. That is to say, efforts were made to exclude data only at my disposal because of my position as a teacher at the site of research.

Data Analysis For this analysis, I began by examining parent data separately from school and teacher data. Using a grounded-theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), general analytic categories were first developed based on an open coding strategy using the most current collection of data. Excluding background information, these cate- gories were primarily based on the parent group’s involvement at WHS. One cate- gory concerned the parent group’s after-school tutoring efforts, for example, with an equivalent after-school tutoring category for teacher and school data. Subsequent interviews and observations were aimed at exploring and distinguishing these cate- gories until emerging themes could be adequately described. All interview transcripts, field notes, and other documents were then analyzed using a constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This allowed for emerging themes within each category to be cross-referenced, and for the data within each category to be reduced to the quotes, comments, and the like that best represented each theme. This com- parison process, furthermore, allowed for patterns across categories, and across the parent and school data sets in particular, to be explored. Relevant literature was then consulted to better understand and interpret these patterns.

Findings

Concerned African American Parents At the time of this research, WHS offered a variety of ways for parents to be involved. The school hosted a number of back-to-school nights and open houses, where parents could meet with teachers and receive information concerning courses, programs, and graduation requirements, as well as receive assistance with college admittance and financial aid applications. Additionally, parents could participate in any number of groups, such as the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization (PTSO) or the Booster Club. Furthermore, parents were always welcome to attend, or get involved with, the various performances put on by student clubs and teams throughout the school year.

Each of these proceedings afforded parents an opportunity to be involved in their child’s education; in addition, they also provided a space and time to meet and get acquainted. As Grace, an African American parent of two WHS students, noted:

We have a lot of [involved] parents. When I first started here, a long time ago, I met [another parent] at a booster meeting. Then, at back to school night and at the [basket- ball] games we would always see each other. So, we were always together like that.

While “together,” some parents also shared their concerns about other matters at WHS. Not every parent, for instance, seemed completely satisfied with the impact their involvement had on students. Jocelyn, an African American mother of two, explained:

[Another parent] and I met at a back-to-school night and we were just talking about getting together…and then, just in general conversation Grace and another gentlemen were just talking about coming together. And so, for me it was like pockets were being [formed]…So I started talking to [other parents], and we were saying, “we gotta come together at WHS, we need to do something at WHS”…. just a whole onslaught of feelings inside of us in separate pockets that we pull it all together and become one. Become unified. Because that’s what our students need.

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For many of these “separate pockets” of parents, the most pressing need concerned the lack of achievement among many African American students. As Frank, the father of an African American sophomore at WHS, noted:

The biggest thing that drove my participation was the statistics. . . . It blew my mind, because I thought it was just the exit exam. It was the grades, …the [standardized test] results, …[and] the disciplinary actions. I had no idea it was that bad—that is ridiculous. . . . So all of us came together to try and do some- thing once we realized how bad the situation was, and I think the rest is history. Kids are suffering as far as those [statistics] indicate.

Grace continued:

I couldn’t articulate it as well to get people on board. I’ve been with the [school] district for so long that I couldn’t make people understand what was really going on in these institutions and how [kids] were suffering…these kids have been suffering a long time.

And so, in an effort to end the “suffering” and increase African American student suc- cess at WHS, Grace, Jocelyn, Frank, and a handful of other African American parents and community members joined together to form a group called Concerned African American Parents (CAAP). The group consisted of 12 board members, many whom were also involved in establishing the group, and included as many as 30 volunteers. As one CAAP member put it: “It is time to have some courageous conversations about [African American] students’ needs, their education, and their achievement. We know [students are suffering] at WHS. Our goal is to break the cycle—excellence without exception.”

CAAP’s Involvement at WHS CAAP engaged in many conversations with both parents and teachers about help- ing the African American student population become more successful in school. The group organized a rally for both school faculty and African American parents to raise the awareness of the breadth and severity of African American students’ low test scores, poor grades, and high disciplinary actions, as well as to discuss potential solutions. CAAP also held monthly meetings where parents voiced their concerns, shared their experiences, volunteered for various school activities, and received help or guidance concerning home and school matters from other parents. Moreover, CAAP members met regularly with school administrators and some teachers to dis- cuss concerns and strategize ways to improve academic performance at WHS. And while CAAP was certainly involved with parents and teachers, much of this parent group’s quest to improve African American student success involved working directly with students. “It is engaging the parents and engaging the school system,” Jocelyn noted, “but [it is] more about figuring out how to engage our students.”

To directly engage students, CAAP, in cooperation with school administrators, cre- ated an afterschool “Enrichment Center.” Located in the school’s career and coun- seling office, the Enrichment Center offered students a place to go at the end of the school day to work on homework, receive tutoring, or use one of the school’s many computers. Here, parent volunteers also worked with students to help them navigate the sometimes-obscure school system. As the coordinator of the Enrichment Center explained:

A lot of our students are doing good…but we have some that are not. So we’ve been meeting with them and we’re strategizing how they can increase their grades. And students have taken hope… We will be meeting with students to give

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them study tips (which we’ll get from the department heads), test-taking tips, and then we’ll have motivational speakers. Finally, we’ll be working with them to set goals and we will hold them to those [goals].

In addition to working with students after school, a number of CAAP parents vol- unteered their time to come into the classroom and help teachers with lessons, activi- ties, or tutoring. As Jocelyn explained:

We want to respond to teachers who say, “Please come to our class.” We were invited to a couple of classrooms and we’ve gone…[and when] the teacher has said, “We’ve got some issues,” some of our parents have gone in on a regular basis.

Most of the parents reported that their work during these instances involved keeping students engaged and on task, or as Grace put it, “[being] an extra pair of eyes and ears in the room.” A few parents, however, were also able to work more individually with students and encourage them to place a greater emphasis on their schooling. Will, an African American father of two, had the opportunity to work with a few students in a remedial English class:

I told them I’m just someone who cares about their success. Once they heard that, a couple of students actually said, “I just give up because I don’t think anybody cares.” So just by that small indication that this brother right here cares, we can help them improve.

Will believed that this exchange and others like it were extremely important. “Just the little things can get them going,” he noted. “You are going to see these kids turn little achievements into big achievements.”

Besides helping students complete their schoolwork and develop good study habits, CAAP also placed a considerable emphasis on heightening students’ self-worth. Many parents, in fact, spoke frequently about fostering a sense of pride in the students of WHS:

We need to instill back in them the pride in themselves and the belief in them- selves that they are excellent, they can be on the top. It’s not automatic that they are the last one or the runner-up. We need to have these kids feel like, “Yeah, I want to be part of the top 10 of the graduating students.” They need to have that feeling within themselves… Our kids are feeling inside that they’re smart, but not as smart. (Grace)

We need to motivate them, [we need to] go back to self-respect, and we need to help them to understand how to honor themselves…Because what you do and what you are about is going to affect you. If we can get them to take pride in themselves…recognize [their] own importance…If we can motivate them and make them feel good about themselves, then they will succeed in school and in life. (Jocelyn)

Thus, CAAP organized a number of different student groups and programs at WHS aimed at enhancing the self-concept of students. To begin, CAAP re-established the recently defunct Black Student Union to raise cultural awareness and support stu- dents’ educational endeavors. The parent group also helped arrange an all-female club on campus designed to address “social and character issues,” such as sexism and inappropriate or unequal gender roles. Additionally, CAAP created “Rising Scholars” and “Soaring Scholars” programs to recognize students with a 0.5 increase in GPA or a GPA above 3.0, respectively. Furthermore, CAAP organized a mentoring program on campus to provide low-achieving students with an adult role model

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who could offer advice, support, and encouragement, as well as monitor academic progress. Jocelyn elaborated:

We are going to have one session [during the school day] to communicate and then we will have a follow up at the end of each term. We want to recognize and celebrate anything that is a success for them… The whole point of mentors is communication; we are working on accessing students [contact information] because we want to be able to keep in touch with these kids… So, I am really looking forward to it; we are believing that this is going to touch some lives—more than we may ever expect.

Jocelyn’s comment outlines the structure of the mentoring program and it also high- lights CAAP’s overall desire to significantly impact the lives (not just the grades) of WHS students, and of African American students in particular. Indeed, CAAP parents expressed a desire to help students become “well-rounded,” “educated,” and “productive citizens” just as much as they mentioned improving test scores or grades and decreasing disciplinary actions.

One more CAAP effort to raise students’ self-concept involved an assortment of Black History Month celebrations. When Ruth, the mother of an African American sophomore, asked her son what they did for Black History Month last year, he replied, “Nothing.” She continued, “So, when CAAP was formed that was one of the things at the head of the agenda to raise awareness—celebrate Black History Month.” During the month of February, CAAP sponsored a number of perfor- mances, games, and events, including weekly “Dream Builder Sessions” in which a number of African American professionals came to campus to talk with students. Frank explained:

At the beginning of each week [this month] we’ve had African American pro- fessionals come to speak to all the kids. We’ve kind of done a schedule where classes come from each period. Last week we had some Tuskegee Airmen, [a] cartoonist, [an Educational Administrator], a chancellor from UC Berkeley, and a [local television] news producer. So we’ve had several speakers come and really touch the kids’ hearts and have had good words to share. That has been fabulous and very positive on campus.

Ruth added:

We had the highest-ranking colonel from [a nearby Air Force Base]…[a] recently retired chair of Chemistry from UC Davis, psychologists, [and a] prominent African American OB/GYN… This is living history!

Throughout these sessions, speakers discussed their personal and educational his- tories, their current careers, and inspirations they experienced in their lives. Students had the opportunity to hear firsthand, as Ruth noted, about past “struggle[s] to let [African American students] go to any school they want to in the country,” “[present] testimony about all their possibilities,” and “the importance of taking advantage of these opportunities for their future…and future generations.”

By the end of Black History Month, there was some suggestion that the Dream Builder Sessions had a positive influence on students. A WHS administrator had the following to share during a monthly CAAP parent meeting:

One of my teachers emailed me that one of her students came up to her and said, “You know, I really feel cared for with all the extra adults on campus coming and telling me things, and it has really got me thinking whatever

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I can dream I can reach.” And it was because of all the [Dream Builder Sessions] that we have on the first day of each week in February.

Other positive impacts were also reported. As Jocelyn noted, for example:

I’ve seen in my own son, who is a true introvert you know, and he has changed so much…. We were driving home and he was recanting some things that occurred in a deeper way than he’s ever done before. I told [my older son] you’d be surprised at how [your younger brother] has changed just in a matter of a couple of months. And so, I know it’s attributed to his participation in a lot of things that he’s been doing—Black Student Union, [and the] Enrichment Center… All these different groups are helping him to step up to be the man he is supposed to be.

What’s more, student attendance at CAAP’s many after school programs exceeded expectations. Frank explained:

The one thing [WHS’s Principal] told us was, “We have all these after school programs, but nobody comes.” We’ve already disproved that…the last week in December there were over 130 kids [in the Enrichment Center], 65 of whom were African American.

Yet, despite all of CAAP’s efforts and perceived influence on increasing student success at WHS, the group still experienced many moments of exclusion. In the next section, I highlight some of the ways in which this parent group’s involvement was discounted, undermined, or simply unrecognized by the staff at WHS.

Moments of Exclusion As noted earlier, the Enrichment Center offered a place for students to go after school for tutoring and help with homework. Parent volunteers and even some students provided such assistance, but the Center was also in need of teacher support. CAAP attended a WHS staff meeting, talked individually with department chairs and adminis- trators, and sent emails soliciting teachers for their participation. “Teachers are generally supportive…and we usually have a teacher in here,” noted the Center’s coordinator. Not all teachers, however, felt compelled to volunteer their time at the Enrichment Center to help students.

I already have kids in my room so it is hard to get to the enrichment center…I already feel like there is not enough of me to go around in my own room after school. (Math Teacher)

It is hard when I am not in my room with my resources…I rather the students come to my class [after school]. (Science Teacher)

I think a lot of teachers don’t go [to the Enrichment Center] because many of us are here during lunch and after school for students. So when students need help, they can come to our classrooms. (English/Language Arts Teacher)

Indeed, the willingness of WHS teachers to stay after school and help students was noted during field observations. Their unwillingness to help after school in the Enrichment Center, however, diminished the program’s capacity to provide ade- quate help for students. Grace noted, “I sit down with them and I can help them with English, and history…but I can’t help them with that math. I just can’t help them with it!” Lisa, another parent volunteer at the Enrichment Center, commented:

Some of the questions [the students] are asking I just can’t answer. [One student] had a science question, and I had no idea. So we looked in the book, but that

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didn’t really help. It doesn’t happen a lot, but some things even I don’t know how to answer and I’m a college educated professional. . . . It would help if we had more teachers in here to help.

Thus, the students who opted to work and get help in the Enrichment Center in lieu of going to a teacher’s classroom were, in effect, denied useful and valuable afterschool support in certain content area subjects.

During the school day, some teachers expressed concern about parents visiting classrooms to help students. That is, CAAP’s belief that, “their presence on campus can assist teachers with many of the students,” was perceived much differently by teachers. Teresa, an English teacher at WHS, explained:

From what I can tell, there is a general feeling among teachers that members of CAAP have been aggressive, intrusive, and less than professional. . . . It feels like, “This is what we (CAAP) are doing because you have failed these kids as teachers—and by the way, we want to be able to come into your classroom whenever we want so we can tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

Before long, WHS staff created a “Classroom Visitation Policy” to “foster a part- nership with the parents and guardians of WHS.” Among other things, the policy restricted parent visits to their children’s classrooms. Moreover, parents were expected to “contact the teacher at least one-to-two days prior to the visit to com- municate the request and set up details of the visit,” as well as “not talk with stu- dents unless they were involved in an activity that talking would not disrupt the students.” As a result of this policy, CAAP parent volunteers were limited in the number of classrooms and teachers they were able to support and also restricted in their involvement and interaction with students while volunteering in class.

Not only did WHS teachers take issue with parents coming in to class to work with students, some teachers also had a problem with students coming out of class to work with parents. CAAP’s mentoring sessions, for instance, took place during school hours and required that students leave class to talk with their respective mentor. Teachers complained that pulling students out of class was “disruptive,” and that it “ruined lessons.” At least one teacher, in fact, refused to let students leave class. Jocelyn explained:

I found one teacher who was fully rejecting of [a student leaving class to see his] mentor…. For whatever reason, he kept the student in class…so [this stu- dent] missed a session with his mentor and may not see [the mentor] again until next [months meeting].

Similar rejections happened during CAAP’s Dream Builder Sessions. Ruth explained:

Even at the end of the month—for the whole month—I am still getting attitude…. Some teachers are not even bringing their classes. [An administrator] and one of his assistants have a schedule for what teachers are coming to each assembly. I told [the Principal] and he thought it might be his fault because he said, “I told them if there was something they absolutely could not reschedule then they did not have to come.” I said, “Well, they are using that as an excuse.”

One reason teachers “absolutely couldn’t reschedule” concerned the length of the school term.

Regarding the Black History Month presentations…this is a short term and some classes, particularly honors and [Advanced Placement classes], can’t give up a whole class period. (Science Teacher)

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I am giving an exam in my Algebra 2 class that day. This is the shortest term of the year. I cannot spare one day [for an assembly]. (Math Teacher)

Other teachers elected to remain in class to conduct a scheduled activity. When asked about the reasons teachers offered for declining to come to a Dream Builder Session, Ruth answered,

Nothing except, “I have things scheduled for my classroom,” or “I am doing this so I don’t know if I can accommodate this.” And the number one push back was teachers not wanting us to use the theatre.

CAAP was allowed to use the theatre each week for the Dream Builder Sessions, though not every seat in the building was filled because some teachers opted not to take their class. As a result, these teachers’ students missed an opportunity to listen and learn from the stories of various African American professionals. Ruth questioned of the teachers not attending a session, “I am like, ‘What is wrong with you people?’ This is living history!”

Discussion and Conclusion At a time when parental involvement is considered an essential factor in the equation for academic success (Baker, 1997; Harris & Goodall, 2008; Lumby, 2007), and at a school where many African American students were struggling to succeed, WHS had a number of African American parents willing to be actively involved. Instead of the more traditional school programs designed for parental involvement (e.g., PTSO), however, these particular African American parents believed it was necessary to be involved in more novel ways if they were to impact significantly academic achievement and meet the needs of the African American students on campus. Hence, CAAP was formed.

In some instances, CAAP’s involvement at WHS could be characterized as a moment of inclusion (Lareau & Horvat, 1999). That is, CAAP was successfully able to establish a few student groups on campus and initiate both the Rising Scholars and Soaring Scholars programs. In other instances, however, CAAP’s involvement was less suc- cessful. As noted in the previous section, CAAP’s classroom visits were deemed “intrusive” and rebuffed by teachers. In addition, teachers found students leaving class to meet with their mentors “disruptive,” and in at least one case forbade a student from going. Finally, teachers were unwilling to give up instructional time to attend CAAP’s Dream Builder Sessions and were reluctant to tutor students in the Enrichment Center.

There are many reasons for teachers’ critiques of and opposition to CAAP’s involve- ment. For example, teachers opposed going to the Enrichment Center because they were already tutoring students in their own classroom and had access to certain resources. The Dream Builder sessions offer another example. Teachers chose to remain in class to teach, conduct an activity, or give a test instead of taking their class to hear one of the speakers. It may have, in fact, been important for teachers to remain in their classrooms. But, to call attention to teachers’ reasoning misses the point. A moment of exclusion results in the inability of parents to intervene in a fashion that educators define as appropriate and legitimate. The focus, further- more, is on the objective outcome or result of the parent’s efforts, not the subjective experience (Lareau & Horvat, 1999). In other words, the point here is that teachers were not participating. CAAP’s efforts led to moments of exclusion, then, because (a) some teachers did not accept or agree with CAAP’s involvement, and (b) CAAP’s involvement was met with resistance or dismissed as peripheral, causing students to miss out on some potentially valuable learning experiences.

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So what happens when parents “interfere”? This research demonstrates the com- prehensive and potentially valuable ways that parents can be involved in education. Indeed, students benefit from mentoring (Rhodes, Grossman, & Resch, 2000) and afterschool tutoring (Hock, Pulvers, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2001), as well as from programs and activities that foster cultural awareness (Rodriguez, Jones, Pang, & Park, 2004). However, as this research suggests, even when parents are unified and strive to involve themselves in ways that are aligned with research on supporting student development, they are subject to moments of exclusion if school officials do not approve of their involvement. These findings are consistent with previous research (e.g., Crozier, 1996) that has highlighted various ways in which individual parents are marginalized when failing to participate in ways that are deemed legiti- mate and appropriate.

Considering the importance of parents in the education of all children, it would seem that schools should harness the support and participation of all parents, not dismiss it. To do so, however, school’s parental involvement policies must embrace the diverse and individual experiences, visions, and values of ethnic minority parents. If schools genuinely value parent involvement, then parent contributions must be legitimized. Smrekar & Cohen-Vogel (2001) suggest replacing the notion of parental involvement with the idea of collaboration. Perhaps such a framework might foster a more productive marriage that serves the interests of both teachers and parents of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The same year this research was conducted, a number of WHS faculty attended a statewide teacher conference focused on how to meet the needs of diverse student populations. “It’s hard because as a teacher I try very hard to meet the needs of all my students,” one English teacher said. “I don’t know…where my blind spots are. But I’m being told there are blind spots.” It would seem alienating parents is a part of this blind spot. As educators, it is up to us to take our blinders off.

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