African American Fathers' Involvement in Home and Schools: An Interpretive Analysis of Their Beliefs and Experiences.

The lack of research about Black fathers and their involvement with schools was the primary motivation for this mixed method dissertation study. This discourse provides a much-needed account of what the nature is of Black father's involvement with schools, why and how they do it, and how student performance is influenced by Black fathers' engagement with schools. Stakeholders in the education of youth, parents, administrators, teachers, and the community whose work is concerned with Black education may learn from the results and not repeat past errors of prevailing notions that portray Black fathers as absent and uninvolved in their children's educational endeavors. One of the goals of the present study was to address current ideology by demystifying the notion of African American fathers and their participation in homes and educational settings from uninvolved and non-concerned to active, engaged, and involved. (Author abstract)