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Hossain, Z. & Shipman, V.(2009). Mexican Immigrant Fathers’ and Mothers’ Engagement with School-Age Children. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, (31)4, 468-491.

This study examined mothers’ and fathers’ reports of their time spent in their school-age children’s care and academic work and the relationships between socioeconomic status and social support variables with fathers’ time spent in children’s care and academic work within two-parent Mexican immigrant families. Mother and father dyads from 79 two-parent Mexican immigrant families with a second- or third-grade child residing in rural towns in southwestern United States participated in the study. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that mothers spent significantly more time in children’s basic care, care on demand, and both academic interaction at home and at school than did fathers. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that fathers’ time spent in children’s care was positively related to their educational level and extrafamilial support and that their time spent in children’s academic work, although positively influenced by their education, was negatively influenced by family size. Findings are discussed with regard to gender role differences in parental engagement with children within Mexican immigrant families and their implications for informing policy makers, educators, and parents of the importance of parental time spent in enriching children’s development and culturally sensitive strategies for doing so.

Linse, C. T. (2011). Creating Taxonomies to Improve School-Home Connections With Families of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners. Education and Urban Society, (43)6, 651-670.

Families of culturally and linguistically diverse pupils often do not participate fully in their children’s school-based education. The purpose of this article is to introduce taxonomies as a means to examine and improve school practices and levels of responsiveness to families whose home language is not English, so that families feel more comfortable connecting with their child’s school community. Taxonomies can provide a vital framework, and tool that schools can use to evaluate and improve the school–home contacts that take place. The taxonomies introduced in this article are based on a compilation of a variety of theoretical premises concerning parent involvement and the education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners.

Sanchez, S.Y. (1999). Learning from the Stories of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families and Communities: A Sociohistorical Lens. Remedial and Special Education, (20)6, 351-359.

This article explores the literature that supports the use of family stories to help special educators better understand the sociohistorical reality and ways of thinking of diverse families and communities. Also developed in this article is the idea that for practitioners working with families from disenfranchised communities, the gathering of family and community stories may be the only vehicle to give them an insider's perspective and give voice to the unheard stories of voiceless communities. Examples from the work of student interns provide evidence for the seven key dispositions necessary for special educators using family stories.