Entering Public School Kindergarten: Family Attitudes and Expectations Affecting Young, Black, Working Class Mothers' School Involvement

Parent involvement in schools has been a focus of educational improvement for many years. The belief that parent involvement can be the difference between schooling success and failure is shared by students, parents, society, school staff, and government. This belief is based on the American ideal “nuclear family” structure. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and expectations of the families of young, Black, working class mothers as they constructed their role as a parent of children in the public school and developed their definition of parent involvement. Participants for the study were the mothers, preschool teachers, and family members of four entering kindergartners, two girls and two boys. The children were chosen from preschool programs, and their mothers and family members were interviewed several times during and after their first semester in public school kindergarten. The preschools and schools attended by the students were visited before the school year began to gather contextual information from staff and school handouts for parents.

Data highlighted patterns of initial family perspective, attitudes, and expectations; and revealed patters of change in the perspective, attitudes, and expectations during the study. The findings identified six expectations the school system had for parents, and four areas where the mothers differed in their ability to meet these expectations. Family structures and other caregivers were examined. Issues of age, race, class, and family structure were considered as possible factors in each family’s decisions concerning involvement with the child’s school.