“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.