Latino Students in New Arrival States: Factors and Services to Prevent Youth From Dropping Out

Latino youth are more likely than any other ethnic group to drop out of high school in the United States. Though some research has helped us understand the factors leading to dropout, very few studies have assessed Latino student’s opinions of services and factors that would help them stay in school (e.g., family, school, peers, and policies). This study presents the results of an in-depth survey of 501 Latino students in North Carolina public schools. Findings suggest that Latino youth drop out because of the difficulty of their school work, personal problems (e.g., pregnancy or problems at home), the need to work to support their family economically, and peer pressure. Students suggest improved academic and personal support in the form of tutoring, mentoring, after-school programs; improved English as a second language classes; and more Spanish-speaking staff/teachers. Recommendations for intervention and policy are suggested

Vision boards: A creative tool for self-exploration and identity development

Researchers recently described vision boards as a creative tool that counselors and clients can use to promote communication and identification of future goals in a strengths-based and solution-focused way. Using the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) the authors describe a method for using vision boards in educational settings to promote identity exploration, enhanced self-efficacy beliefs, and the development of career and educational aspirations for under-represented adolescents. The authors present a case example of middle school students from rural, low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds who created vision boards as part of a summer camp. Implications for the use of vision boards are discussed for counselors, counselor educators, and researchers

Linking multicultural counseling and social justice through advocacy

The concepts of multicultural counseling, social justice, and advocacy may be utilized without a clear sense of how best to operationalize them in counselor training. In this article, the authors offer a perspective on how advocacy and social justice interrelate and share strategies for infusing advocacy into counselor training to achieve social justice goals. The authors provide six experiential activities counselor educators may use to provide counselors-in-training experience in a range of advocacy skills

College level choice of Latino high school students: A social cognitive approach.

Latino students attend 2-year colleges more often than 4-year colleges. This has an impact on the rate of bachelor's degree attainment, because the transfer rate between the 2 levels is low. The author uses national data to identify predictors associated with college-level choice and then uses social-cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to frame counseling implications. Los estudiantes Latinos se matriculan con más frecuencia en estudios universitarios de 2 años que en estudios de 4 años. Esto produce un impacto en el porcentaje de obtención de licenciaturas, porque la tasa de transferencia entre ambos niveles es baja. El autor emplea datos a nivel nacional para identificar predictores asociados con la elección del nivel de estudios universitarios, y después emplea la teoría social cognitiva de las carreras (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) para formular las implicaciones para la consejería

Initial evaluation of a Latino parent college planning program: "It changed my life and my child's life.”

Parents have long served a crucial role in their children’s postsecondary success through guidance and support. In an effort to help Latina/o parents in emerging immigrant communities overcome any limits to their knowledge around college-going practices, this study evaluates the feasibility and beginning efficacy of a parent-focused, Spanish-language psychoeducational program (Padres Promoviendo Preparación). The program is novel in that it centers on increasing parent college-going knowledge and self-efficacy for guiding their children forward; it was delivered in both school and congregational settings; and the content was delivered in Spanish by community advocates working in collaboration with university-based personnel. The quantitative pre/post measures indicate that the program was successful at increasing par¬ents’ knowledge and self-efficacy, and the qualitative data help to expand upon the ways that parents perceived the impact or benefit of the program for their families. Implications for educators, advocates, and policymakers center on the impact of parent-focused programs on knowledge gains and how that knowledge transforms the parent–child relationship. As schools and communities seek to engage with families to increase Latina/o student post-high school options, this program and these findings can provide both context and content for doing so

Learning to advocate: Evaluating a new course

The authors share the formative evaluation of a counseling elective, Social Justice Advocacy. Researchers used thematic analysis to code student weekly reflection journals. Emergent themes included (a) redefining social justice and advocacy, (b) reflecting on privilege, (c) expanding from advocacy for to advocacy with, and (d) shifting into action. The findings have implications for counselor educators interested in developing a similar course and value for professional counselors who wish to improve their advocacy for clients

Adjustment of Undergraduate Latino Students at a Southeastern University Cultural Components of Academic and Social Integration

College campuses in the southeast United States are striving to understand and serve their newly arriving Latino students to promote adjustment and academic success. The purpose of this article is to outline the cultural components of academic and social integration of Latino college students at one southeastern campus, based on descriptive survey results. Participant responses reflected relatively smooth academic integration but some complications in the social/cultural areas. Implications for student affairs professionals are discussed

Review of ‘Americans by Heart: Undocumented Latino students and the promise of higher education.’

In August 2012, undocumented youth who were brought to the United States prior to their 16th birthday became eligible to apply for deferred action relative to deportation, per an administrative order by President Barack Obama. Although this action did not accomplish the same goals hoped for by Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act supporters, it did allow a portion of the unauthorized immigrant youth in this country a chance to apply for a temporary work permit and to come out from the shadows. At the start of his second term in January 2013, President Obama and a bipartisan group of Senators went to work drafting legislation for more comprehensive immigration reform. This historical moment makes William Pérez's book Americans by Heart all the more salient. The book is a product of his 2-year qualitative and quantitative study of undocumented Latino high school students (18% of the sample) and college students (34% attending community college, 48% at a 4-year college), mostly in California and Texas. The book illustrates what he learned about their social resources and constraints (Chapter 2), their academic and civic engagement (Chapters 3 and 4), their pathways into higher education (Chapter 5), and their status upon graduation (Chapter 6). Most important, the voices of the participants bring the reasons for deferred action and the DREAM Act vividly to life. In one participant's words, “I was really depressed because I was outstanding in school, and I was like, OK, I can't go to college” (p. 24). The determination and motivation of the participants is shown as well, as they continued to strive and often to excel against long odds

A social constructivist approach to preparing school counselors to work effectively in urban schools

In this article a social construction framework is used to improve the capacity of school counselors and trainees to work effectively with African American and Latina/o students in urban schools. Three key theoretical tenets of the social construction worldview are presented as a new lens for thinking about the meaning-making process of students in an urban school setting and how school counselors can support it. We offer activities to operationalize this theoretical point of view and implications for school counselor training and practice

Quality of Interactions in Face-to-Face and Hybrid Career Development Courses: An Exploration of Students' Perceptions

Online counselor education is growing, but there has been little conclusive research about its effectiveness. This paper reports on an exploratory study in which the perceptions of students in a hybrid career development and counseling class were compared to those of students in a face-to-face offering of the same class. Student-to-student and student-to-instructor interactions were examined and several themes were identified: nature of interactions, sufficiency of interactions, different types of communication, impact of interactions on learning, and enhancement of relationships. Both delivery formats were found to have benefits and challenges. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical implications and areas in need of future research