Racial identity as a context for African American parents' school trust and involvement and the impact on student preparation and persistence

Structural equation modeling was employed to test the direct and indirect effects of parent racial identity (i.e., private and public regard) on parents' school trust, parent home and school involvement, and the academic persistence and preparation of their adolescent child. Participants were 515 African American parents (84% mothers, 42.6 years-old, SD = 7.7) of adolescents (54% girls, 13.7 years-old, SD = 1.4). Parent private regard had a positive direct effect on parent home involvement, yet no other private regard effects were evidenced in our model. Parent public regard was positively related to school trust, and through school trust public regard had a positive effect on parent home and school involvement, adolescent academic preparation and classroom persistence. Findings suggest that parent racial identity serves as a context for the attitudes/beliefs parents hold for mainstream institutions (i.e., schools) and the ways in which these attitudes/beliefs are associated with parent involvement behaviors and subsequently influence adolescent engagement and motivation. Implications and future directions are discussed.