Family–school connections and the transitions of low-income youths and english language learners from middle school to high school.

Abstract

The theoretical and policy focus on parental involvement in education has evolved into a consideration of 2-way connections between families and schools. Working from a social capital perspective emphasizing the importance of information in periods and domains of uncertainty, the author tested a specific application of this reconceptualization in this study. Multilevel models of the National Education Longitudinal Study (n = 17,899) revealed that youths started high school in higher level math when parents, middle school personnel, and high school personnel were in contact with each other and when middle school personnel bridged middle school and high school. The observed effects of other family-school patterns on math and of all family-school patterns on science were driven by selection, including the personal characteristics that select adolescents into different family-school configurations. Multiple forms of family-school communication were related to reduced income and language disparities in math and science coursework, regardless of their associations with coursework in the general population.