Continuity and variability in the parental involvement and advocacy beliefs of Latino families of young children

Parental involvement is an important component of children’s school success. Although the literature on parental involvement among Latino families is growing and moving from deficit-based perspectives, very few studies have examined the parental involvement beliefs and practices of Latino families who vary across demographic and sociocultural lines within the same school community. This qualitative study explored Latino parents’ beliefs about children’s education, their involvement and advocacy beliefs and practices, and their perceptions of feeling welcome at their children’s school. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 parents of preschool and kindergarten children who attended a bilingual school. Qualitative descriptive analyses revealed that the majority of parents espoused the cultural value of educación, engaged in learning activities at home, and viewed themselves as living models of behavior for children, regardless of their education or immigrant status. Only first generation immigrant parents made explicit reference to children’s futures. All parents attributed supportive relationships with school personnel and a bilingual climate as the most important sources of feeling welcome at school. However, parents with more education valued what they perceived as an “open door policy” and were more vocal in critiquing policies. Findings have implications for the development of multicultural competence among teachers and for ways diverse Latino families might develop a shared voice within the school sector.Published versio

Non-parental caregivers, parents, and the school readiness of the children of Latino/a immigrants

School readiness generally predicts trajectories of academic achievement over time, motivating efforts to support the development of school readiness skills by expanding access to and improving the quality of early childhood care and education. One dimension of early childhood care and education concerns the beliefs that non-parental caregivers (e.g. preschool teachers, relatives, child care providers) in these settings have about school readiness and how these beliefs may differ from parent beliefs. Non-parental caregivers’ beliefs—and their alignment with parents’ beliefs—may be especially significant for certain segments of the child population, namely children of Latino/a immigrant parents in the U.S., who are overrepresented among students who enter school with underdeveloped academic skills and whose parents may not have the resources nor the familiarity with the U.S. education system to know what schools will expect of their children upon school entry. Latino/a immigrant parents and their children, therefore, may be more influenced by the school readiness beliefs of non-parental caregivers than other groups. This study uses the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to investigate whether non-parental early caregivers’ beliefs about school readiness and their alignment with parental beliefs are associated with children’s achievement test scores at kindergarten entry—in general and especially among the children of Latino/a immigrant parents.Sociolog

Building Family Strengths Through Successful Parental Involvement Strategies: A Case Study with Latino Immigrant Families and Elementary School Staff

Latino immigrant families often face significant barriers in becoming involved in their children’s education due to common cultural biases and misunderstandings and language barriers. Moreover, limited evidence suggests that the ways in which Latino immigrant families engage in their children’s education may not be recognized and valued by schools, which operate within mainstream cultural values. As a result, effective outreach and engagement practices specifically for Latino parents, particularly recent immigrants, are not presently well understood. To that end, the purpose of the present case study is to explore and evaluate the strategies used by an elementary school to involve its Latino immigrant parents into their children’s education. Focus groups with parents and interviews with key school staff revealed three ways that the school has broken through cultural and language barriers to encourage their families to get involved: building trust, clearly communicating with families in culturally sensitive ways, and empathizing with families and their needs. These findings are discussed in light of implications for social work practice

PARENTING CHALLENGES AND RESILIENCIES OF LATINO IMMIGRANT PARENTS

Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. Thirty five percent of Latinos who are currently children will be contributing taxpayers and will be having a great influence on the future economy. Immigrant Latino parents must overcome significant challenges to ensure their children’s well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and resiliencies of Latino immigrant parents. This study examines the resources Latino immigrant parents lacked and what knowledge and parenting skills they already obtained. This study specifically looked at Latino immigrant parents and their specific needs regarding parental knowledge and resources. This study used a qualitative design accomplished through the use of face to face and phone interviews. This study conducted 15 interviews with first generation Latino immigrant parents who resided in Southern California who migrated to the United States and had at least one child born in the United States. One major finding of this study was that Latino immigrant parents could benefit from school resources for their children such as tutoring, assistance with the college admission program and assistance with applying for scholarships and financial aid. Another major finding was that language was one dominant challenge and barrier that Latino immigrant parents faced that affected their ability to cope with the U.S school system. Based on the findings of this study one of the recommendations is to produce a policy that mandates the U.S school system to have translation services available for Latino immigrant families

\u3cem\u3eSobresalir\u3c/em\u3e: Latino Parent Perspectives on New Latino Diaspora Schools

Although many have documented the high value Latino families place on education, prevalent discourses nonetheless characterize Latino immigrant parents as not caring about their children’s education. This paper describes the practice-based components of a participatory action research project in which we created a collaborative film, intended for use in teacher professional development, which counters these discourses. In the film, Mexican immigrant parents in one New Latino Diaspora community discuss their experiences with schools. Parents’ stories give teachers an opportunity to re-think their relationships with and impressions of Mexican immigrant families

Leveraging Technology toward Family Supports for and Development of Middle Schoolers

This Practitioner Perspective discusses how sharing a learning space with their parents, college students, and other adult members in a community-based technology program influenced middle school students’ familial support, their own technology knowledge and social capital, sense of membership in a learning community, and identity development. The program’s structure used technology as a starting point to develop skills, but also to aid Latino immigrant families to navigate their children’s schooling experiences

Becoming an American parent: Overcoming challenges and finding strengths in a new immigrant Latino community

One in five children living in the United States is an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, and 62% of these children are Latino. Through qualitative methods, this study identifies ways that Latino immigrant parents with adolescent children cope with their new environment and how that environment shapes their parenting practices. Two primary themes emerge: overcoming new challenges and finding new strengths. Immigrant parents discuss the challenges of overcoming fears of the unknown; navigating unfamiliar work, school, and neighborhood environments; encountering and confronting racism; and losing family connections and other forms of social capital. In response to these challenges, immigrant parents discuss developing bicultural coping skills, increasing parent–child communication, empathizing with and respecting their adolescent children, and fostering social supports. The results fit well with a risk and protective factor framework and provide a basis for improving policies and programs to support effective parenting in Latino immigrant families

Acculturation and Parental Expectations

Communities within Latino cultures have expressed concern that parent-adolescent relationships have become strained due to the culturally imposed beliefs that have found their way into parenting styles. Within my study I examined how they Latino immigrant parents and U.S.-born Latino parents share and enforce their views on sex and gender with their adolescents. I argued that without cultural brokers, such as trusted adults in the community, immigrant parents and their children may experience more tensions and distance than U.S.-born Latino parents of the same ethnicity. In the course of my study, I suggested variations in parenting styles, as an adolescent's gender and sexual autonomy may be shaped by cultural and religious convictions, which could potentially undergo modifications due to distinctions arising from acculturation factors. I collected my samples from three major Latino groups, recruiting participants that resided in the Bronx, New York - specifically, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans, through a series of in-depth interviews of U.S.-born Latino parents raised in New York City's boroughs. I also interviewed immigrant Latino parents who have lived in the boroughs for a substantial amount of time to have American high school-aged children. I interviewed parents of each demographic, with only interviewing one couple, and in total, twelve individuals. I found that the immigrant Latino parents held the same views on sharing and enforcing their views on gender and sex those of the U.S.-born Latino parents. Associating their acculturated ideals to the acquiring of higher education and employment after relocating to New York city.Purchase College SUNYSociologyBachelor of ArtsSilver, Alexis M

The Strengths of Recent Latino Immigrant Parents Raising Young Children: An Application of the Concepts of Human Agency

Grounded in the family strengths perspective, this study focuses on the experience of first-generation immigrant parents in an effort to highlight the role of human agency in relation to family adjustment. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined the experience of 20 first-generation immigrant Latino parents of young children (ages 0-7), before and after migration, and their perceived adjustment. This approach created a holistic story of the migration process, relevant to promote civic and social participation. Several themes emerged within three cultural domains in relation to the concept of human agency: (1) pre-migration: intentionality and forethought, (2) settlement process: planning and kinship network, and (3) post-immigration: overcoming challenges and reactive adjustment. The results illustrate that recent immigrant parents are planners, thinkers, and self-regulators. The information provided here is useful to inform evidence-based practices and to inspire researchers as well as service providers

Factors that Influence the Participation of Immigrant Latino Parents in the Special Education Process of their Children with Disabilities

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act emphasized the importance of parents’ participation in all educational decisions concerning their children with disabilities. However, parents’ ability to actively participate in, and contribute to, their children’s special education process is influenced by a variety of parent and school related factors. For immigrant Latino parents, these factors may include additional issues related to cultural and linguistic diversity not experienced by most parents. This study examined the experiences of immigrant Latino parents when navigating the special education system as well as the impact that such experiences had on parents’ participation in the special education process of their children with disabilities. A researcher-developed survey (Special Education Parent Participation Survey, SPED-PPS) was used to collect the data. Findings indicated that, although about half of the participants were unable to communicate in English with educators, parents still communicated and collaborated often with school personnel. In addition, most immigrant Latino parents trusted professionals working with their children and had a positive perception of school personnel. A minority of parents believed that teachers knew best about their children’s needs, believed that teachers thought that parents interfered too much in their work, and/or felt uncomfortable with having many professionals in the Individual Educational Plan meetings. Immigrant Latino parents’ participation in their children’s special education process appeared to be influenced by the child’s disability as well as parents’ knowledge of the American education system, perception of school personnel, English language communication skills, and ability to confront school personnel about the child’s needs