One of the biggest obstacles to student achievement is a lack of parental involvement in a child’s academic pursuits. For Hispanic students, this can be a challenge to negotiate due to the difficulties their parents sometimes face when it comes to finding the proper outlets or resources to engage in a meaningful manner. At the heart of the problem is communication, or lack thereof, as a significant number of Hispanic parents aren’t comfortable interacting with teachers or school administrators for any number of reasons. For some there are language barriers that prevent parents from discussing their child’s academic progress, for others it could be an inability with knowing how to engage, and even more Hispanic parents are reluctant to get fully involved because they feel that educators are the primary decision-makers when it comes to educating their child and they don’t wish to interfere. Whatever the main obstacles are to full parental engagement, there are Spanish-languages resources available to help parents feel more comfortable about getting involved in the educational process with an eye towards overcoming these problems. Here are just a few of the most widely available and useful resources for Hispanic parents to explore:

National PTA – The National Parent/Teachers Association is the leading organization devoted to incorporating parents into the conversation surrounding the education of our nation’s children. They work towards advocating for successful educational outcomes of students by making all stake-holders accountable for meeting this goal. That includes parents and the PTA strives to create avenues to help them get thoroughly involved in the process.

Univision Contigo – Clave al Exito – “Key to Success” is media company Univision’s educational online resource designed to help Spanish-speaking parents get involved in their child’s education. The platform serves an access point for helping parents communicate with educators and learn how to help their children read and excel with their studies.

Be a Learning Hero – Another valuable source for vital information and tips for parents on how to stay up to date with all of the growing changes happening in the education system in the United States. With so many new shifts in the current paradigm, it can be tough to navigate so many developments and this website is dedicated to helping parents stay on top of every new change to become more effectively involved in schooling.

The ENLACE Initiative – A program under management by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), the ENLACE initiative was created with the sole purpose of helping Hispanic families find the resources they need in order for children to complete high school and pursue college. It serves students in grades K-12 as well as students enrolled in college and universities both public and private.

Lectura Books – Publishes bilingual books to meet the language needs of Spanish speaking parents and their children.

Family Phonics – A program to use with parents who need to learn basic phonics and phonemic awareness, so that they can help their children with English phonics.

Family Stories Curriculum – published by The Latino Family Literacy Project. Requires staff development for effective implementation of a Parent Involvement and family reading program.