The myth of low to no African American parent involvement can be attributed, in part, to a perception of their limited presence in schools, especially at the high school level (Barton, Drake, Gustavo-Perez, St. Louis & George, 2004). Often, teachers declare that African American parents' do not care about their children's education (Archer-Banks & Behar-Horenstein, 2008). African American parents counter this stereotype by arguing that schools are unwelcoming spaces (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, & Davies, 2007). Moreover, scholars suggest that the ways African American families support the academic achievement of their teenage children often go unnoticed by teachers who are more accustomed to middle class approaches to parent involvement (Kim, 2009; Hornby & Lafaele, 2011). Scholarship reveals that both individual and institutional barriers contribute to the perceived lack or low involvement of African American parents in their teenage children's urban high schools.

The purpose of this dissertation research is to explore how the parents of African American high school students identify and negotiate the individual and institutional barriers to their active involvement in their teenage children's schools. The guiding research questions reads: How do African American parents identify and negotiate the individual and institutional barriers to their active participation in their adolescent children's urban high schools? This narrative inquiry consists of interviews with twelve African American parents and grandparents across different urban high schools, including public and charter schools, in Philadelphia, PA.

Analysis of the interview data reveals three findings: 1) Contrary to common misperceptions, African American parents are involved in their children's education in ways that are consistent with traditional forms of parent involvement; 2) African American parents identify and negotiate barriers to their children's education by way of their culture; and 3) African American parents identify and negotiate barriers to their children's education by choosing to enroll their adolescents in charter schools. These findings are largely consistent with previous studies, and serve to further advance research on African American family involvement with adolescent children in urban high schools. Recommendations for future research and practices offer direction on how to recognize and support African American family involvement.