The purpose of this study was to investigate African American parents' perception of school leaders as it relates to parent engagement and the African American male student. Specifically, this study addressed African American parents' perceptions of the quality of their child's education and the quality of communication they received from their child's school. A nonexperimental descriptive quantitative research design was used. Purposeful sampling was used for recruiting parents in the selected school attendance area. Participants completed a modified version of the parent questionnaire of the "School and Family Partnerships: Questionnaires for Teachers and Parents in the Elementary and Middle Grades" designed by Epstein and Salinas (1993). Overall, findings suggest parents were pleased with the quality of education their child was receiving, communicating events, and their child's progress. In addition, participating parents felt the school cared about their child. Lastly, findings reveal parents felt welcomed and perceived they were viewed as partners. However, they did not perceive they were viewed as equal partners. Findings disclose parents felt schools could improve their efforts to communicate opportunities to volunteer and participate on school decision-making committees. Recommendations for school leaders are to work closely with staff to develop a plan to increase parent involvement regarding communicating opportunities to volunteer and participate on school decision-making committees. Strategies for recruitment and retaining healthy relations with parents must be monitored for effectiveness of parental involvement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]