Hispanic Parent Involvement

Parents are the main source of information about their children. Teachers have to gather information about home literacy practices and dialects spoken in order to provide a meaningful and relevant literacy program (Makin, Jones Diaz and McLachlan, 2007). Information related to children’s interests gathered from family can assist in the settling in process and in ongoing programming. Incorporating diversity into the program can be authenticated by getting parents involved (Birckmayer, Kennedy and Stonehouse, 2008). Teachers must attempt to actively involve parents in all aspects of the classroom. Despite efforts being made to involve parents, it is inevitable that some parents will show little interest or have little time to become involved; therefore, teachers must respect the level of involvement that a parent chooses. Utilising information from parents can assist teachers in developing relationships with their students.

Challenges Faced by Hispanic Students in American Schools and How Schools Can Address Identified Needs

Growing up in a Latino household is hard. My parents only spoke Spanish therefore my first language was Spanish. For the first few years of my life this was not really a problem, I enjoyed life as any normal little girl would. I got to talk to all of my cousins and all of the neighbor’s children. It wasn’t until I got to school that it became real that I was going to learn English. Don’t get me wrong I always knew I had to learn English my parents always talked to me about school and helped me as much as they could. It was also around this same time where I started to understand that it was not only hard for me it was hard for them as well. My parents had to live in this country not knowing the main language spoken.

Growing up in a Hispanic household has taught me many things. I have learned to see things as an optimistic person, and that it doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you work hard for what you want anything is possible. My family has always implemented the values of life that lead me to perceive what it was about to throw at me.

The Hispanic/Latin American population of the U.S. has been growing steadily over the last four decades (Casas, Vasquez, & Ruiz de Esparza, 2002 retrieved from Alvarez) and recent census statistics indicate that 42.7 million Americans identify themselves as Hispanic (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006 retrieved from Alvarez). The Hispanic population is expected to continue to grow and expand. Hispanic living in the United States face many challenges and social injustice. When facing challenges and social injustices people tend to handle those stressors in different ways. For some people partaking in substance and alcohol abuse has become a coping trend in America. “Substance abuse prevalence rates for Latinos/as generally mirror those of the

Jose Rodriguez is the Director of Parent and Community Engagement at UnidosUS, and oversees UnidosUS’s Padres Comprometidos parent engagement program that is implemented across twenty-four states. The goal of Padres Comprometidos is to ensure that the Latino families can navigate the US public school system to support their children's academic success. With over thirty years of experience as a K -12 teacher, coordinator, and consultant, Jose has assisted school districts in the areas of English language acquisition and parent engagement. A fifth generation American, Jose grew up in a rural community in South Texas, where the home language and culture were nurtured and maintained. Upon entering school Jose was immersed in an English only environment

The community that I researched was the Hispanic community.  According to Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, and Martinez (2017) the Hispanic community may exhibit several issues when attempting to participate in policy-based research or conduct policy-based research (Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, & Martinez, 2009).  Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, and Martinez (2007) noted several difficulties when attempting to conduct a study in a Hispanic community that included a number of immigrants (Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, & Martinez, 2009).  These difficulties were mainly associated with fear of stigmas, discrimination, immigration authorities, and cultural values (Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, & Martinez, 2009).  Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, and Martinez (2007) also noted several challenges when attempting to recruit participants, the environment they inhabited, and sensitivity to the topic being studied (Shedlin, Decena, Mangadu, & Martinez, 2009).

According to Michael Seville, a writer for Eutopia Magazine, “… parental involvement is a key ingredient in how well a student learns.” The idea of parental involvement in their school is not a concept exclusive to charter schools. There are many traditional public schools that are launching programs to do just that. In Saratoga, California, an elementary school has made it mandatory for parents to volunteer and attend a seven-session STEP (Systemic Training for Effective Parenting) class. This class is designed to help improve the parent’s usefulness when they appear in class. According to the principal of the McAuliffe Elementary, Michael Kalb, even single working parents are able to find a few hours a month to help out, even if it is in the evening. Since the inception of this program, teachers have noticed more cooperative behavior of their students and a willingness that was not present before. These types of programs could be and should be incorporated into any traditional public school in any part of the country and would create a synergy within the school of parents, teachers, and students.

Another suggestion to close the achievement gap between ethnic groups is by promoting Dual-Languages and Two-Way Immersion Programs at school. The purpose of having this program is to help monolingual speakers to be bilingual and proceed with their education. This program will be open to students and parents to help them improve with their communication skills, and eventually help them close the achievement gap. Latinos would be able to move forward and continue with their education and at some point of their lives they would be able to represent student’s social capital, and network people with money. Also, Latinos will not only interact with middle-class peers, but they will demonstrate education achievement. Learning another language can

Students in this class come from Mexico, Honduras, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico. This brings different cultures together like the LUCHA program, Language Learners at The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Hispanic Achievement. The LUCHA program helps secondary Spanish-speaking English language learners in their transition to public schools, and McAllen High School includes this program. LUCHA students have a difficult time trying to transition from their birthplace to the place they live in today, McAllen. Instruction should be designed and assessed differently depending on their needs. Students require special accommodations, for example frequent and immediate feedback is essential in making their transition easier.

Although Herndon has implemented a variety of partnership activities, there is still room for improvement for parent involvement in School activities as well as Kids at Hope program activities. Herndon can improve on six types of Epstein parent involvement (especially Decision making and Collaborating activities), such as involving ESL and low income families. The achievement gap is growing among ESL students and Low income students. The ESOL and low income population is increasing yearly. There is a 20 percent increase in the Hispanic population in the last three years. Reaching, communicating and involving these parents is becoming increasingly difficult. Certain clubs like Math clubs and Science clubs are receiving less parent volunteers

Parent, family, and community involvement means different things to different people. A research-based framework,6 developed by Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University, describes six types of involvement— parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community—that offer a broad range of school, family, and community activities that can engage all parties and help meet student needs. Successful school-parent community partnerships are not stand-alone projects or add-on programs but are well integrated with the school’s overall mission and goals. Research and fieldwork show that parent-school-partnerships improve schools, strengthen families, build community support, and increase student achievement and success. (NEA Education Policy and Practice Department,

This is indicative of the increase in low-income students within the county. Increasing test scores is the first step in improving the outlook on schools and this is possible through parental involvement. Developing programs at the school level for system wide collaboration and implementation will provide students with the necessary supplies, resources, and parents who are knowledgeable in providing students assistance. These programs could be implemented within a five year window to provide the expected outcome of increased test scores and increased parental interest in the school system. Children of all cultures, income levels, and differences are entitled to a quality public education without excess tuition or

Participants were recruited via snowball sampling from an urban middle school in Northern California to participate in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The school’s parent advisor contacted participants by phone calls. The sample included ten female parents with diverse backgrounds. Including 6 Latina, 2 White, 1 American Indian, and 1 Asian American. The participants were between the ages of 29 and 45 years, with an average age of 37 years. The highest education levels of the parents ranged from some high school to a Bachelor’s degree. In addition, Translators were used to communicate effectively with parents who did not speak English.

Learning ways to overcome cultural and language barriers taught me how to engage the community by empowering the community and pulling the voice out of the frustrated individuals. This has created acknowledgment to our program on a national level, creating the passion in each parent and child with how much value education holds. Obtaining this type of feedback from the community, helps us implement solutions to the obstacles every child faces and truly helps us execute our mission of focusing on the whole