Award Date

12-15-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services

First Committee Member

Scott Loe

Second Committee Member

Heather Dahl-Jacinto

Third Committee Member

Jungnam Kim

Fourth Committee Member

Katherine Lee

Fifth Committee Member

Heather Van Ness

Number of Pages

133

Abstract

Family-school partnerships are essential for a child’s academic and social-emotional well-being in schools. These partnerships thrive when families and school personnel cultivate trusting, communicative, and cooperative relationships. However, families from minoritized communities, such as those from Latinx backgrounds, may encounter challenges that prevent them from forming strong, meaningful relationships with teachers and administrators. This qualitative dissertation study was grounded in a social constructivist paradigm and a phenomenological tradition. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of Latinx families as they navigate relational aspects of family-school partnerships in their children’s schools. Using semi-structured interviews, four participants were recruited through criterion and snowball sampling. The findings of this study identified three structural themes and nine textural themes that addressed the three guiding research questions. These findings highlight the deeply relational, value-oriented, and culturally mediated ways in which participants navigate their children’s education, experience conflicts, and construct partnerships with their children’s schools. The implications for the practice and professional training of school psychologists are presented, along with future research directions.

Controlled Subject

Latin Americans; Mental health; School children--Family relationships

Disciplines

Education | Psychology | School Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

File Format

PDF

File Size

1575 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/


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