Chapter 6: Building Parent-School Partnerships Through the Hispanic Parent Leadership Academy

Research suggests positive parent-teacher relationships and increased parent involvement can minimize barriers for Hispanic families and lead to higher levels of student achievement. Family-school-community partnerships have the ability to promote these outcomes. This chapter describes the Hispanic Parent Leadership Academy (HPLA), within the Parent Teacher Leadership Academy at The University of Alabama (UA). In order to support local schools, and Hispanic students and families within, the HPLA provides parents with the opportunity to develop leadership skills and confidence within their school community while promoting parent-teacher relationships. The purpose of this chapter is to showcase the HPLA, an inclusive leadership development program that prepares parent-teacher school teams to enhance school and student outcomes by facilitating effective parent-school partnerships. We discuss the overall framework and goals of the HPLA structure and we provide an outline for the research on school-university and parent-school partnerships. The chapter additionally provides an overview of the HPLA program and exemplifies how one specific project—developed and implemented by HPLA participants—enriched their respective school, students, and families. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for universities who are considering implementing similar programs.