Understanding barriers to parent involvement in Head Start: a research-community partnership

The present study was conducted by a research institute, The NCJW Center fo r the Child, in partnership with two Head Start agencies in New York City. The research grew out of practitioners' concerns about parent involvement i n their programs and what barriers may be inhibiting participation, Sixty-e ight mothers whose children had completed one year of Head Start were inter viewed using the Barriers to Parent Involvement Survey. Results revealed th at mothers reported the presence many difficult life experiences, but few w ere reported as actual barriers by many mothers. Five out of 20 of these ex periences were associated with staff ratings of mothers' level of participa tion. Developing ways to address barriers to participation at the Head Star t agencies is discussed in light of the research findings. Information abou t wider application of the survey as well as research and programmatic impl ications of the results are included. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All ri ghts reserved.