“Mommy, Can You Help Me?” An Ethnographic Look at Maternal Involvement from Pre-school to Kindergarten

Abstract

When parents are more involved in their child’s educational process, children tend to do better in school. However, research has shown limited parental involvement among low-income African- American families. Building upon previous school readiness research, this study uses an interpretive approach to explore the facilitators and barriers that affect parental involvement among African-American mothers living in a low-income Midwestern neighborhood. This research is significant because once we gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the involvement of low-income families, effective strategies can be developed to strengthen their involvement and increase the school readiness of low-income African-American children.