Education versus Educacion : Parent-teacher communication and language, culture, and socioeconomic status.

摘要

A triangulation mixed method participatory action research design was implemented to answer the primary research question, "How can parent-teacher communication at a small school in Tucson, Arizona, at which the substantial majority of students are English Language Learners and eligible to receive free lunch, be improved?" The research for this study involved interviewing 11 instructional staff members and 16 mothers of students at a Kindergarten-8th grade public charter school on the south side of Tucson, Arizona. The substantial majority of parent participants identified as Latina or Hispanic, while most of the instructional staff participants identified as Caucasian. Perspectives on communication and the roles of each group varied between the two groups, but the majority of both mothers and instructional staff members felt that parent-teacher communication should occur more frequently at the school and provided a variety of suggestions for how this could be achieved.