Parental Empowerment as a Means to Promote Latina/o Post-secondary Access PDF Download

Author: Evette K. Roux
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
Marginal representation in post-secondary education is a critical issue for Latinas/os. Latina/o families often lack knowledge and wherewithal to guide their children in an advantageous academic direction. They are often unaware of the processes of the U.S. academic system, and the resulting apparent lack of participation is misinterpreted as a disinterest in the educational achievement of their children. In order to increase the educational attainment of Latina/o students it is imperative to empower parents with the knowledge that will provide their children access to higher education. This project draws on studies that examined conditions which seem to correlate with increased Latina/o student achievement. Such studies have demonstrated that one of the most influential motivators for students' success is parental involvement. In order to address the challenge of underrepresentation in higher education, this project presents a curriculum developed for Latina/o parents of elementary-aged children. The curriculum offers effective strategies to engage parents in the long-term educational trajectory of their children. It is designed to raise college awareness and empower Latina/o parents with skills and knowledge to navigate the U.S. school system. The goal is to foster higher academic goals for Latina/o students and consequently lead to the attainment of a college degree.

Author: Enrique Velasco
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
One of the biggest obstacles to college access is the lack of student, and parent knowledge, concerning the pathway to college and a bachelor0́9s degree (Auerbach, 2004; Downs et al, 2008). When it comes to college knowledge, parents need to understand as much as they can about the requirements for college, as they are one of the top three sources of information for students. (Auerbach, 2004). By receiving the college information they need and want, Latino parents can have a more engaged involvement which can help their child academically and better transition into college (Auerbach, 2004, 2006; DeCastro-Ambrosetti & Cho, 2005: Zulli, Frierson Jr., & Clayton, 1999). Many of the jobs in our future will be knowledge-based and will require at least some post-secondary education, and a great number of Latinos will not participate if the bleak education statistics continue (Tornatzky, Cutler, & Lee, 2002). This study intended on identifying the college information possessed by local low-income Latino parents, their informational needs and concerns about college, and the preparation for it. As well as identify promising outreach strategies for organizations and institutions in order to create a better relationship, and exchange of information, with low-income Latino parents. Methodology This study utilized a mixed method research methodology. There were two Latino parents interviewed for this study. Both were mothers of Latino high school students who were also enrolled in an academic equity program. The parents were also participating with the program through the orientations and informational sessions developed by the program. In addition, the Director of the program was interviewed. Also, surveys were given to two groups of parents. The first group was given an evaluation survey while attending an educational event set up by a community outreach organization. The second group of parents was provided with a survey while attending a meeting with their child's high school counselor / soccer coach. Latino parents are hungry for information in order to be more involved in their child's education and their pathway to college. They adapt to their lack of resources and provide the moral support that is also important to their children. However, for the parents involved in this study there was information they needed and wanted to learn more of in order to provide the support and have the involvement they prefer. Financial aid and academic requirements were among the main topics parents identified as wanting know more about. The best outreach strategies were also covered in this study. It was discovered that the Latino parents involved in this study preferred the informational events they attend to be in a discussion format. Also, they were more open and comfortable receiving information if it is presented by others with a similar background and/or by Spanish-speakers.

Author: Maria Lorena Meza
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education, Higher
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
Many universities grapple with Latino student retention issues. Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, yet they also are the group that has the least amount of formal education. The literature suggests that parental support helps Latinos succeed academically in elementary, middle, and high schools. However, there has been little research on how or even whether Latino parental support influences academic success at the postsecondary level. Consequently, there is a lack of knowledge about (a) Latino parental behavior and attitudes during the years their children attend college and (b) the relationship between parents' behavior and attitudes, on the one hand, and Latino college student academic achievement and retention, on the other. This study provides information about the role parental support plays in promoting the academic success and retention of Latino students in higher education. Central to this study is qualitative analysis of Latino parent narratives which focus on how parents feel about their children attending college, the impact that college attendance has on their child and the family, and the support they provide their children as they navigate the academic environment. The study also gathered data about parental perceptions of how the University supports—or fails to support—their children while in school, and how these perceptions impacted parents' support efforts and strategies. A case study/cross-case analysis design was used in the study. Parent participants were randomly selected from the parents of students who participate in the Educational Opportunity Program at a public four-year Hispanic Serving Institution. Findings suggest that Latino parents support their children in non-traditional ways. For example, they used, often quite consciously, public expressions of pride in their children's accomplishments to demonstrate support and motivate their children; also promoted self-respect and respect for others as foundational, ingrained values that they believed helped their children navigate through the challenges of university life. Parents also indicated that, in contrast to their direct involvement with schools in the K-12 years, they found few opportunities to be involved with the university. Still, they trusted the university to provide the sort of help that their children required.

Author: Cynthia Marie Martinez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hispanic American parents
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore the role of Latino parents and their contributions to their daughter's pursuit of higher education from the perspective of both the parent and the daughter. Yosso's (2005, 2006) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework served as a data analysis tool to explore the primary question guiding this study, which was: How do Latino parents' various forms of community cultural wealth contribute to their daughter's pursuit and attainment of higher education? The secondary research questions included: How do Latino parents perceive their role, involvement, or contributions to their daughter's pursuit of postsecondary education? How do Latina daughters perceive their parents' involvement or contributions to their academic pursuit of postsecondary education? How do Latina daughters perceive their role, responsibility, and involvement in their pursuit of postsecondary education? What forms of cultural wealth do Latino parents exhibit that contributes to their daughter's academic pursuits and higher education? Six participants who self-identified as Latina, first-generation, undergraduate students were recruited from a university in the Southwest. Each participant was asked to select one English-speaking parent to participate in a separate interview for this case study. In total, there were six familial pairs who each participated in one, hour-long phone interviews. As Yosso (2005, 2006) explains, the various capitals of the Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework are not independent of each other and are often intertwined and build on each other. Therefore, the findings from this case study reflected this interconnected nature. The themes include: The Power of Belief, the Power of Overcoming Struggle, the Power of Support, and the Power of Interdependence. These themes were classified as powers because they highlight the asset-based paradigm of how Latino parents positively contribute to their children's education. The four themes connect with Community Cultural Wealth to create empowered Latinas who are determined, resilient, and are persevering no matter the obstacles.

Author: JoAnna George
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
The goal of the research was to explore how participating in a Parent University impacted twenty-seven Latino middle and high school parents and their ability to support their children in school. The study was a mixed methods study that included a pre-post survey with Likert scale and open-ended questions. Before the program started, twenty of the twenty-seven Latino parents indicated that they did not communicate with their child's teacher, school staff or even the principal before the program, but after the program 100% indicated they always attended the child's parent teacher conferences. In the pre-survey, 12 out of 27 (44%) parents said that the school has never helped them become involved in their child's education, after the program twenty-one (78%) responded in the post survey that the school always helps them become involved in their child's education. Also in the pre-survey, 15 out of the 27 (56%) parents in the program responded that they did not feel motivated to participate in parent programs at school and after the program concluded, 27 out of 27 (100%) parents said that they do feel motivated to participate in parent programs at school. Parent Universities and other programs similar could increase Latino parental school involvement and possibly increase student success.

Author: Maria de Jesus Cisneros-Elias
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
As the number of Latinas/os in California increases to one in four residents, the number of Latinas/os earning bachelor’s degrees remains low – 12% (College Campaign, 2015). Given the current education crisis of Latinas/os, it has become increasingly important to understand ways to increase access to college for Latina/o youth. Research has found that these families teach and create a culture of education for their children through emotional support and consejos advice-giving narratives to life lessons (Chavira et al., 2016; Kiyama, 2011). Tara Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW, Yosso, 2005) framework guides the current study, challenging the Latina/o deficit literature and outlines the strengths held within the Latina/o community and other undeserved communities. The CCW model posits that Latina/o families are rich in wealth in the form of capital. The focus of current study is to examine the CCW that Latino families possess and the agency acquired of the students through the empowerment of an intervention program for families and their youth. This study found Latina/o adolescents hold high educational aspirations for themselves regardless of their parents’ formal education in the United States. Additionally, adolescents expressed agency toward their educational pursuit. These results give us an in depth look at how adolescents perceive their parents’ support, help, and encouragement through cultural wealth and how it interacts with their own educational aspirations for their future. This study further allows us to see how a college information intervention may help Latina/o immigrant families increase in cultural wealth and teach them a concrete path to obtain their educational aspirations.

Author: Monica Fong
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781392212219
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Traditional thought regarding parent involvement has been based on middle-class White ideals about school and schooling. The real-world result of structural inequities and power differentials led many English Learner (EL) families to feel left out and marginalized by teachers, school administrators, and the educational system. Attempts to include culturally relevant pedagogy and greater parental involvement can unintentionally recreate neo-deficit approaches that further subject non-dominant families to more ineffective reform. The principal goal of this study is to explore parent engagement with a school Facebook account to discover how social media may help equalize some of the structural inequities present in our schools. The study is qualitative, exploring how Facebook posts offer the potential for parental funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth to be shared with the school community. These posts provide a vehicle for families to share and receive significant amounts of informational capital with each other. Study findings suggest further research to improve access to parent and family-based community cultural wealth and funds of knowledge. An interview with a local community history expert expands the depth and breadth of meaning of the posts, adding context. The expert's perspective suggests the need for more authentic, family-driven school engagement for EL parents, providing a roadmap for school leaders to transform educational practice and expand our concept of educator. Keywords: community cultural wealth, EL, English Learner, Facebook, funds of knowledge, parent engagement

Author: Jessica Weiss Cummins
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This investigation centered on the relation between perceived parental support for college attendance and students' postsecondary educational aspirations and enrollment intentions. A particular focus of the examination was on the distinction between behavioral-based and non-behavioral-based forms of parental support (labeled interventionist and noninterventionist forms of support, respectively). Three hundred and thirty-seven twelfth grade Latino students who participated in the Puente Program--a research-based college preparation program--were surveyed twice during their senior year in high school. In the first survey, students indicated their own educational aspirations and expectations as well as their perceptions of their parents' aspirations for their education. They also specified their perceptions of parental support along various dimensions. When surveyed again at the culmination of their senior year, students reported on college preparatory actions taken and post-high school plans. The results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that perceived parental support for college represents the expression of four distinct underlying dimensions, a more differentiated version of the two types of perceived support initially hypothesized. The factors labeled Broad Intervention and Intervention College Admissions correspond to the anticipated interventionist construct as they encompass survey items that assessed behavioral-based support. The factors labeled Nonintervention Purpose and Nonintervention Encourage are aligned with the anticipated noninterventionist construct as all the items within these subscales referred to non-behavioral motivational input. Investigation of the factors associated with various dimensions of support revealed that low-income, less educated Latino parents were less likely to support their children by interventionist means. Parents born outside of the United States were more likely to provide motivational encouragement intended to convey messages about the purpose of college (i.e., Nonintervention Purpose). Student characteristics in middle school were not significantly related to parenting styles of support provision. Results further indicate that there was a direct significant association between perceptions of overall support and acceptance to a four-year college; parents' propensity to offer Intervention College Admissions support varied significantly across aspiration categories; and parents' propensity to offer Intervention College Admissions support was significantly related to whether or not students were accepted into four-year colleges. Finally, participants in the present study were found to report higher educational plans/expectations and perceived parental aspirations than Latino students from the western region of the United States who participated in the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Findings from the present study reinforce the connection between parental support and both aspirations and college acceptance. Results suggest that bolstering parent support through the curricula of college preparation programs is central to programmatic success.

Author: Maria Estela Zarate
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
The Latino community has been characterized by low high school graduation rates, low college completion rates and substandard schooling conditions. As schools and policymakers seek to improve the educational conditions of Latinos, parental influence in the form of school involvement is assumed to play some role in shaping students' educational experiences. Despite this national interest in parental involvement, little research has been conducted on what constitutes parental involvement in the middle and high school years. Additionally, stakeholders hold diverse definitions of parental involvement, and little attention has been paid to how Latino parents, specifically, define parental involvement. The growing national interest in parental involvement and lack of research on Latino perceptions on the issue motivated the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) to examine what constitutes parental involvement for schools, Latino students, and Latino parents. In conducting this study, the Institute examined: (1) Latino parents' perceptions of their participation in the education of their children; (2) Schools' and teachers' expectations of parental involvement; (3) Programmatic initiatives addressing parental involvement in education; and (4) Latino students' perceptions of the role of parental involvement in their education. Findings indicate that divergent definitions and perceptions of parental involvement in education exist among different stakeholders and that schools lack clear organizational goals and objectives on how best to involve parents in the schools. These insights can inform discussions about how schools can best acknowledge, encourage, and increase parental involvement in schools. School administrators, school board members, corporate school partners, policymakers, outreach programs, parent leaders, and teachers may find study results useful as they seek to increase parental involvement in schools. A list of resources for further reading is included.(Contains 4 footnotes and 2 tables.).

Author: Concha Delgado-Gaitan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781850006626
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
First Published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.