Beyond the Greatest Hits: A Counterstory of English Learner Parent Involvement

Over the past 20 years there have been significant policy, research, and social emphases placed upon the importance of parent involvement in U.S. schools as a means for improving student achievement. This has resulted in an implicit definition of what constitutes involvement for all parents rather than an induc tive understanding of what is occurring in families, particularly for those who are culturally and linguistically diverse. The purpose of this review is to present a counterstory (Yosso, 2006) to widely held notions about parent involvement in U.S. public schools through examining the ways that research has documented English learners’ (EL) parent involvement in situ. I review 31 research studies that use inductive methods to define and describe parent involvement with EL families. Findings reveal that EL parents’ involvement is centered around three key relationships: between families and schools, between parents and children, and among families. These relationships exist along a continuum from school-directed to parent-led. Additionally, they present a counterstory to the standard practices that define parent involvement and instead reveal that EL parents’ involvement is characterized by dynamic processes.