Browsing by Subject "Latino education"
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Item Parent perceptions of invitations for involvement : effects on parent involvement at home and school(2010-12) Cox, Diane Denise; Carlson, Cindy I., 1949-; Keith, Timothy Z.; Sander, Janay B.; Falbo, Toni L.; Linan-Thompson, Sylvia F.Research has demonstrated much evidence for the positive effect of parent involvement on academic achievement in children (Jeynes, 2003, 2007; Hoover-Dempsey, Walker, Sandler, Whetsel, Green, Wilkins, & Closson, 2005; Fan & Chen, 2001; Griffith, 1996). As children from low income and ethnic minority families are at the greatest risk for academic failure, it is important to study the processes that lead parents to become involved within at-risk populations. A comprehensive model such as the one proposed by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997) provides a map of important constructs to study. Research using this model appears promising as a way to conceptualize the processes that lead to parent involvement (Walker, Wilkins, Dallaire, Sandler, & Hoover-Dempsey, 2005). However, there are few studies that have tested this model with minority populations, and none that have focused on a primarily Latino population. Parent involvement research indicates inconsistent findings regarding the role of family background variables in the process of parent involvement (Ho & Willms, 1996; Griffith, 1998). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parent perceived invitations for involvement on parent involvement behavior with a primarily low-income, urban, Latino population. Two levels of the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model were tested: parent perceived invitations for involvement (child invitations, school invitations, and teacher invitations) and parent involvement behavior (home-based and school-based). Child invitations and teacher invitations were both found to be important types of invitation for total parent involvement (home-based and school-based combined). Home language, employment status, and parent education level moderated the effect of child invitations on total parent involvement. When parent involvement was differentiated into home-based and school-based involvement as separate dependent variables, child invitations had a significant effect on both types of involvement. Home language, employment status, and parent education level moderated the effect of child invitations on home-based parent involvement. For this population, child invitations for involvement appear to be the most important means to invite parent participation. Future research should continue to investigate the utility of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model of parent involvement with specific ethnic groups, and consider family background variables due to their potentially moderating role.Item The preschool and kindergarten classrooms of children from Latino/a language minority families(2013-08) Ramos, Aida Isela; Crosnoe, RobertEducational policy increasingly prioritizes early intervention and enrichment for children from historically disadvantaged populations, and this push is relevant to Latino/a children, especially those from language minority families. Beyond increasing the enrollment of such children in early education programs, the highly variable nature of the programs serving them has been a concern. To address this concern, this dissertation provides a picture of the instructional settings of children from Latino/a language minority families. Following a mixed methods strategy, statistical analyses of national data provide an overview of the intensity of reading and math instructional practices in preschool and kindergarten classrooms serving children from Latino/a language minority families, and then qualitative analyses of local data parse out the interactional quality of instruction in primarily Spanish-speaking classrooms as well as the challenges teachers faced in their instructional mission. Findings revealed that, although children from Latino/a language minority families appeared to be advantaged in terms of frequencies of many instructional practices at the national level, they appeared to be at a disadvantage in terms of instructional quality at the local level, possibly reflecting teachers' perceptions that issues of language and literacy, the socioeconomic background of students, and difficulties connecting to parents complicated their instructional abilities