Parent Engagement Through Abriendo Caminos/Opening Pathways

Abstract

“Abriendo Caminos/Opening Pathways for Students of Color Into the Teaching Profession: Giving Back to the Community Through Teaching,” funded by an educational improvement grant, was designed to address the teacher shortage and demographic diversity gap between students and teachers in a largely urban public school district in the Southwestern United States. The research team at a large, minority-serving public research institution set to address the teacher shortage and diversity gap in three distinct ways—research, recruitment, and registration/retention—with a strong parental engagement component in every stage. Research shows that the engagement of multicultural families/families of color in schools and surrounding community initiatives may more expediently and reliably translate into improved student educational outcomes than does that involvement focused largely on their children's performance in school. This chapter delineates practical hands-on methods to develop stronger parent partnerships using a social justice lens.