September 2006

Language minority parents may face a number of challenges 

when trying to communicate or become involved with their 

child’s school. For instance, the inability to understand 

English, unfamiliarity with the school system, and differences 

in cultural norms concerning appropriate levels of parentschool involvement can hinder parents from communicating 

or being involved with their child’s school (Quezada, Diaz, 

and Sanchez 2003). In addition, on average, language minority 

children reside in households with lower family incomes than 

children in families who only speak English at home (Klein et 

al. 2004). Research has also shown that family income level 

may be associated with parents’ involvement in their child’s 

school (Lee and Bowen 2006).

This Issue Brief describes school-to-home communication 

practices and opportunities for parent involvement at 

school as reported by parents of U.S. school-age students 

from primarily English- and primarily Spanish-speaking 

households during the 2002–03 school year. Data are drawn 

from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey 

of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program 

(NHES), which included English and Spanish language surveys 

of parents’ perceptions of school communication practices 

and opportunities for parent involvement.1 English-speaking 

households are defined as those with at least one parent who 

speaks English as a primary or first language. Spanish-speaking 

households are those in which neither parent primarily speaks 

English in the home or at least one parent primarily speaks 

Spanish in the home or as a first language.2,3 Spanish-speaking 

children were more likely than children from Englishspeaking households to live in low-income families (Klein et 

al. 2004). Therefore, findings are also reported by three levels 

of household poverty. For this report, the term “poor” will be 

used to identify those families below the poverty threshold; 

“near-poor” will identify those at 100–199 percent of the 

poverty threshold; and “nonpoor” will identify those at 200 

percent or more of the poverty threshold.4

School Communication Practices

Measures of school communication practices with parents 

were taken from parent reports about whether, during the 

school year, the teacher or school sent parents personal notes 

or e-mails specifically about their child; provided newsletters, 

memos, or notices addressed to all parents; or called parents 

on the phone.5

Across English- and Spanish-speaking households during the 

2002–03 school year, 92 percent of students had a parent 

School and Parent Interaction by Household 

Language and Poverty Status: 2002–03 

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2006–086

Issue

Brief

who reported receiving newsletters, memos, or notices from 

the school or teacher addressed to all parents; 50 percent of 

students had a parent who reported receiving personal notes 

or e-mails from the school or teacher about the student; and 

43 percent of students had a parent who reported receiving a 

phone call from the school or teacher (table 1). 

Parent reports of school communication practices differed 

by household language for all measurements except phone 

calls. A greater percentage of students from English-speaking 

households (50 percent) than Spanish-speaking households 

(40 percent) had a parent who reported receiving personal 

notes or e-mails about the student. Similarly, 92 percent of 

students from English-speaking households had a parent who 

reported receiving newsletters, memos, or notices compared 

with 82 percent of students from Spanish-speaking households. 

No measurable differences were found between English- and 

Spanish-speaking households in the percentage of students 

whose parents reported receiving a phone call from the school.

After taking household poverty status into account, the 

differences in parent reports of school communication 

practices continued to exist between English- and Spanishspeaking households. For example, students in poor Englishspeaking households were more likely than students in poor 

Spanish-speaking households to have parents who reported 

receiving personal notes or e-mails about the student (49 

vs. 40 percent). Similarly, students in poor English-speaking 

households were more likely than students in poor Spanishspeaking households to have parents who reported receiving 

newsletters, memos, or notices (87 vs. 81 percent). Lastly, 

students in nonpoor English-speaking households were more 

likely than students in nonpoor Spanish-speaking households 

to have parents who reported receiving newsletters, memos, 

or notices (94 vs. 84 percent). 

Differences were also found in parent reports of school 

communication practices for English-speaking households 

across poverty levels. For example, a greater percentage of 

students from nonpoor households (94 percent) had a parent 

who reported receiving a newsletter, memo, or notice than 

students from near-poor (90 percent) and poor (87 percent) 

households. In addition, a greater percentage of students 

from poor households (49 percent) had a parent who 

reported receiving a phone call from the teacher or school 

than did students from near-poor (43 percent) and nonpoor 

(41 percent) households. No measurable differences were 

found across poverty levels in parents’ reports of school 

communication practices for Spanish-speaking households.
2 NCES 2006-086 Issue Brief September 2006

Opportunities for Parent Involvement

Measures of opportunities for parent involvement were 

taken from parent reports of whether the school held general 

meetings, such as an open house; parent-teacher conferences; 

or school or class events, such as a play or sports event, that 

parents could attend during the 2002–03 school year and 

whether the school offered parents the chance to volunteer 

during the school year. 

Across English- and Spanish-speaking households, 96 percent of 

students had parents who reported that the school held at least 

one general meeting during the school year. Parents of more 

than three-quarters of the students reported that the school held 

parent-teacher conferences (88 percent), the school or class held 

events which parents could attend (77 percent), and the school 

offered a chance to volunteer (86 percent) (table 2).

Parent reports of opportunities for involvement with the 

school differed by household language for all measurements 

except parent-teacher conferences. Students from Englishspeaking households were more likely than their counterparts 

from Spanish-speaking households to have a parent who 

reported that the school held a general meeting (97 vs. 89 

percent), the school or class held an event that parents could 

attend (78 vs. 65 percent), or the school had opportunities for 

parents to volunteer (88 vs. 58 percent). The percentage of 

students whose parents reported that the school held parentteacher conferences was similar for both English- and Spanishspeaking households.

After taking household poverty status 

into account, the differences in parent 

reports of opportunities for involvement 

with the school continued to exist 

between English- and Spanish-speaking 

households. Parents of students from 

poor and near-poor English-speaking 

households were more likely than 

parents of students from poor and nearpoor Spanish-speaking households to 

report that the school held a general 

meeting (94 vs. 87 percent for poor; 96 

vs. 92 percent for near-poor) or that the 

school had opportunities for parents to 

volunteer (84 vs. 55 percent for poor; 

85 vs. 58 percent for near-poor). In 

addition, students from near-poor 

English-speaking households were more 

likely than students from near-poor 

Spanish-speaking households to have a 

parent who reported that the school or 

class held an event that parents could 

attend (73 vs. 66 percent). 

Of students living in nonpoor 

households, those living in Englishspeaking households were more likely 

to have a parent who reported the 

school had opportunities for parents 

to volunteer than those living in 

Spanish-speaking households (91 vs. 

72 percent). Similarly, students from 

nonpoor English-speaking households 

were more likely than students from nonpoor Spanish-speaking 

households to have a parent who reported the school or class 

held an event that parents could attend (82 vs. 66 percent). 

Differences were also found in parent reports of school 

involvement opportunities for English-speaking households 

across poverty levels. Students from poor households were less 

likely than students from nonpoor households to have parents 

who reported that the school had opportunities for parent 

involvement. For example, 69 percent of students living in 

poor households compared with 82 percent of students living 

in nonpoor households had parents who reported the school or 

class held an event that parents could attend. Similarly, students 

living in poor households (84 percent) were less likely than 

students living in nonpoor households (91 percent) to have a 

parent who reported that the school offered a chance to volunteer. 

Furthermore, students living in poor households (94 percent) 

were also less likely than students living in nonpoor households 

(98 percent) to have a parent who reported that the school held 

general meetings for parents. No measurable differences were 

found across poverty levels in parents’ reports of opportunities 

for parent involvement for Spanish-speaking households.

Conclusion

Some measures in this study indicate that there are differences 

in school communication practices and opportunities for parent 

involvement between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking 

households. A greater percentage of students in English-speaking 

Table 1. Percentage distribution of all students and percentage of students with a parent/

guardian who reported the child’s school engaged in school communication 

practices, by household language and poverty status: 2002–03

Characteristic

All 

students

School communication practices

Personal 

notes or 

e-mails 

about 

student

Newsletters, 

memos, 

or notices 

addressed 

to all 

parents Phone call

All students 100.0 49.6 91.5 42.5

Household language

English-speaking 93.0 50.4 92.2 42.4

Spanish-speaking 7.0 39.7 82.3 43.7

Poverty status and household 

language

Poor

English-speaking 78.6 48.5 87.2 49.4

Spanish-speaking 21.4 39.8 81.3 43.8

Near-poor

English-speaking 90.1 51.8 89.8 42.5

Spanish-speaking 9.9 38.7 83.2 44.1

Nonpoor

English-speaking 98.4 50.3 94.3 40.8

Spanish-speaking 1.6 42.2 83.8 41.9

NOTE: Not all apparent differences in this table are statistically significant. Standard errors are available 

at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006086.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family 

Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2003).
NCES 2006-086 Issue Brief September 2006 3

Vaden-Kiernan, N., and McManus, J. (2005). Parent and Family 

Involvement in Education: 2002–03 (NCES 2005-043). U.S. 

Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for 

Education Statistics.

Endnotes

1 See Vaden-Kiernan and McManus (2005) for a report on parent 

involvement in schools using data from the 2003 NHES.

2

 The sample includes 12,167 students from English- or Spanish-speaking 

households who had a parent or guardian who reported on school 

communication practices and opportunities for parent involvement. The 

analysis was weighted using the variable FPWT (final population weight), 

which resulted in a weighted sample size of 51,394,188. 

3

 Students from English-speaking households represented 91 percent of the 

national sample and students from Spanish-speaking households represented 

7 percent of the national sample. Non-English and non-Spanish-speaking 

households (2 percent) were excluded from this analysis. 

4

 Household poverty status was determined using Census Bureau weighted 

average poverty thresholds for 2003 (http://www.census.gov/hhes/

poverty/threshld.html). Data on household income and the number of 

people living in the household are combined with estimates of the poverty 

threshold to classify families as “poor,” “near-poor,” and “nonpoor.” 

5

 A limitation of the study is the lack of school-level data, which were not 

collected as part of the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey 

of the 2003 NHES. See Carey, Lewis, and Farris (1998) and Chen (2001) 

for NCES reports of parent involvement using school-level data. It should 

be noted that school reports of school-to-home communication practices and 

opportunities for parent-school involvement may differ from parent reports.

households than in Spanish-speaking 

households had parents who reported 

receiving personal notes or e-mails 

about the student; receiving newsletters, 

memos, or notices addressed to all 

parents; opportunities to attend general 

meetings; opportunities to attend 

school events; and chances to volunteer. 

Differences were still apparent after 

taking poverty status into account. 

For instance, a greater percentage of 

students in English-speaking households 

at each poverty level had parents who 

reported receiving newsletters, memos, 

or notices addressed to all parents and 

chances to volunteer than did students 

from Spanish-speaking households at 

the same poverty level. 

While the primary focus of this Issue Brief 

is on household language, it is important 

to note that the poor and nonpoor levels 

of household poverty status appear to be 

associated with students from Englishspeaking households when examining 

some school-to-home communication 

practices and some opportunities for 

parent-school involvement. For instance, 

this study found that poor students from 

English-speaking households were less 

likely to have parents who reported receiving newsletters, memos, 

or notices addressed to all parents than students from nonpoor 

English-speaking households. Furthermore, no measurable 

differences were found across poverty levels in parents’ reports 

of school communication practices and opportunities for parent 

involvement for Spanish-speaking households.

References

Carey, N., Lewis, L., and Farris, E. (1998). Parent Involvement in Children’s 

Education: Efforts by Public Elementary Schools (NCES 98-032R). 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Chen, X. (2001). Efforts by Public K–8 Schools to Involve Parents in 

Children’s Education: Do School and Parent Reports Agree? 

(NCES 2001-076). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, 

DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 

Klein, S., Bugarin, R., Beltranena, R., and McArthur, E. (2004). Language 

Minorities and Their Educational and Labor Market Indicators—

Recent Trends (NCES 2004–009), U.S. Department of Education. 

Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Lee, J-S., and Bowen, N. (2006). Parental Involvement, Cultural Capital, 

and the Achievement Gap Among Elementary School Children. 

American Research Journal, 43(2): 193–218.

Quezada, R., Diaz, D., and Sanchez, M. (2003). Involving Latino Parents. 

Leadership, 33(1): 32–34.

The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling variability. All 

differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts 

are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling error, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error. For more 

information on the National Household Education Surveys Program, visit http://nces.ed.gov/nhes. 

This Issue Brief was prepared by Christine Enyeart, Juliet Diehl, Gillian Hampden-Thompson, and Marion Scotchmer of the American Institutes for Research. This 

Issue Brief was desktopped by Michael Stock of MacroSys Research and Technology. For further information, contact Edith McArthur, NCES, at 202-502-7393 or 

edith.mcarthur@ed.gov. To order additional copies of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS or visit http://www.edpubs.org. NCES publications 

are also available on the Internet at http://nces.ed.gov. 

Table 2. Percentage distribution of all students and percentage of students with a parent/

guardian who reported the child’s school offered various opportunities for parent 

involvement, by household language and poverty status: 2002–03

Characteristic

All 

students

Opportunities for parental involvement

General 

meeting 

Parentteacher 

conference

School 

or class 

event

Chance 

to 

volunteer

All students 100.0 96.4 88.1 77.1 86.0

Household language

English-speaking 93.0 97.0 88.1 78.0 88.2

Spanish-speaking 7.0 89.0 88.0 65.1 58.4

Poverty status and 

 household language

Poor

English-speaking 78.6 93.8 87.7 68.6 83.5

Spanish-speaking 21.4 86.5 87.1 63.9 55.2

Near-poor

English-speaking 90.1 96.3 89.1 73.3 84.9

Spanish-speaking 9.9 91.6 88.8 66.4 58.1

Nonpoor

English-speaking 98.4 98.0 87.8 82.0 90.5

Spanish-speaking 1.6 92.4 89.3 66.4 71.9

NOTE: Not all apparent differences in this table are statistically significant. Standard errors are available 

at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006086.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family 

Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2003).
School and Parent Interaction by Household 

Language and Poverty Status: 2002–03

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NCES 2006–086

The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of current interest.

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Brief