Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-110).

abstract: Established in 1983 by the College Board, the National Hispanic Recognition Program annually recognizes approximately 3,300 Hispanic students who scored the highest on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). These top-performing high school students are recruited by U.S. universities as National Hispanic Scholars with the offer of scholarships. Few studies have been conducted in the past 20 years about National Hispanic Scholars; and none have investigated the role of the scholars' parents in their children's academic success. The purpose of this study was to address the gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive view of the scholar-parent relationship across low-income and high-income categories. The focus was on exploring differences and similarities, according to income, between the scholar-parent relationships and the scholars' negotiation of scholarship achievement and their first-year university experience. The research question was "What are the experiences of low-income and high-income National Hispanic Scholars and the experiences of their parents from the students' childhood academic achievement through their early collegiate maturation?" Topical life history was the research methodology utilized to explore the students' academic progression. Eighteen interviews were conducted, including nine student-parent pairs. The students were asked to include the parent they felt was most influential in their decision to go to college; all students chose their mother. Interviews were conducted utilizing an interview protocol; however, participants were given opportunities to fully explain their responses. Drawing from the recorded and transcribed interviews, the researcher developed narratives for each scholar and analyzed data according to existing literature. Five thematic data categories--academic progression, racial identity, scholarship award, early collegiate maturation process, and matriarchal/ child relationship progression--were further analyzed between and across income groups. The study's major finding was that parents intentionally placed the scholars in schools or facilitated strategic circumstances that would ensure their children's academic success. Parental navigation of their children's academic activities--termed "positioning"--was present in the scholars' lives from their earliest years, and findings indicate the activity contributed to the students' becoming recipients of the National Hispanic Scholars award. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2010

In Texas, Hispanic populations (people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race) have increased from 6.7 million in 2000 to 7.4 million in 2005, or by approximately 10.5%. This growth trend is expected to continue with estimates that Hispanics will represent approximately 37% of the state's population by 2015. The problem this research addressed is that participation in higher education by Texas Hispanics is not keeping pace with the growth in the Texas Hispanic population. If allowed to continue, the state could be in danger of realizing devastating economic and societal consequences. The present study utilized regression analysis to determine how well four institutional characteristics explained the variance in Hispanic enrollment and graduation percentages of students attending public 4-year institutions in states with prevalent Hispanic populations. Findings indicate that while local Hispanic population is a strong, positive predictor of Hispanic enrollments, it has a negative impact on Hispanic graduation rates. The independent variables of average cost of attendance and average financial aid package are the strongest predictors of Hispanic graduation percentages. Implications for the state of Texas include stress on public 4-year institutions in coping with Hispanic population increases, possible enrollment overflows at the community college level, and need for additional allocations to state and institutional financial aid programs.

No description available.

This research study aims to support the enactment of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) and evaluate the political, economic and cultural effects of Hispanic population in American public policy. Every year, 65,000 illegal students graduate from American high schools and are not able to attend college due to their legal status. The DREAM Act proposes to modify current immigration legislation to allow illegal students who were brought to the United States under the age of sixteen to pursue a college or military career. This Act would also grant conditional legal residency that will eventually lead to attainment of citizenship. In addition, using textual analysis of other authors and scholars, this paper seeks to point out the Hispanic agenda for American public policy is the same as the policy agenda of non-Hispanic Americans. This study will also include critics of Hispanic immigration, culture and language. Through the understanding of the importance of the enactment of the DREAM Act non-Hispanic constituents might support the bill with their representatives in Congress. Furthermore, the findings on the Hispanic role in American public policy will perhaps influence the support of comprehensive Immigration Reform that could benefit American society and its economy while rewarding immigrants in their search for the American dream.

<p> This embedded case study explored and described the delivery of career development activities by high school counselors (n=9) at predominantly Latino high schools within a Southern California school district. Using the ASCA National Standards as a guide, participants were queried about their adherence to said standards. The following themes emerged: (a) The Need for Parental Involvement in Students&rsquo; Education, (b) Counselors&rsquo; Barriers to Delivering Career Development Activities, (3) Perceptions of a Potential Career Development Course, (4) Career Exploration, (5) and Lack of Accountability for ASCA Standards. The results from the questionnaire highlighted inconsistency among the participants&rsquo; delivery of career development competencies. Limitations include a small sample size and questionnaire flaws. Implications include the need to track fidelity for ASCA National Standards, improve parental involvement, reduce non-counseling tasks, and reduce the student-to-school counselor ratio. Recommendations for future research for educators in predominantly Latino high schools are provided.</p>

<p> Latinas experience disproportionate rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Continued research efforts are necessary in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors associated with this condition among Latinas. To date, a significant amount of research has been conducted examining intrapersonal predictors of GDM. The aim of this study was to explore potential, broader-level, correlates of GDM among Latinas (N = 5,440) in California. Results from unadjusted logistic regression analyses indicated both interpersonal and community-level variables are significantly associated with GDM among Latinas. In the nested logistic regression analyses including community, interpersonal, and intrapersonal variables, one interpersonal variable (i.e., difficulty understanding the doctor) remained significant in the final model. Moreover, results suggested intrapersonal variables may mediate the relationship between community-level variables and GDM. Future research should aim to identify additional correlates, as well as examine causal mechanisms.</p>

The purpose of the current study was to determine if the Nova Multilingual Neuropsychological Battery (NMNB) can detect neurological deficits in the traumatic brained injured (TBI) Hispanic sample by comparing subtest mean scores to the normal group mean scores. The NMNB is comprised of 39 subtests and was developed to account for language and cultural factors thought to influence neuropsychological test results. It was hypothesized that significant differences would be found in NMNB measures sensitive to brain damage. A sample size of 100 English-Spanish speaking bilinguals (50 TBI and 50 cognitively intact participants) was tested in Spanish in order to compare cognitive performance across the various NMNB measures. Due to the number of comparisons, the alpha level for this study was set to .01 to reduce Type I error. Results of the ANCOVA's partially supported the hypothesis after controlling for age and education. Findings show that the NMNB measures were able to successfully detect the TBI Spanish group from the normal Spanish group. Significant differences were displayed in the tests measuring nonverbal abilities, memory and learning, visual spatial skills, and executive functioning. More specifically, no significant differences were displayed in the tests measuring crystallized premorbid abilities, while tests measuring more fluid abilities detected problems with abstract thinking and information processing in the TBI sample. A similar deficit pattern was displayed across all measures of higher functioning systems. Deficits were detected in the nonverbal measures that involved complex attention (selective, divided, and alternating forms of attention) and concentration for visuospatial tasks, pattern synthesis and manipulation, but not for simple visuospatial attentional activities. Significant differences were found in motor speed, but not in the number of errors. These findings support previous research indicating that Hispanics tend to favor accuracy over speed. Additionally, results reveal significant differences across all memory measures. Using Cohen's d, large effect sizes were displayed between the groups ranging from 1.5 to 2.3 in the verbal and visual memory measures. Similar effect sizes were also displayed in tests of executive functioning. Preliminary data of this study suggests that the NMNB may be a sound assessment tool for detecting neurological impairments in TBIs. Collectively, the NMNB displayed significant differences in motor and processing speed, memory, visuospatial tasks, and executive functioning commonly documented in non-Hispanic TBIs. This study concluded that culturally sensitive neuropsychological tests that also control for demographic variables such as age and education can provide accurate results for Hispanics with TBI. However, these results should be interpreted with caution as this study was limited to a small sample size with an unequal proportion of TBI severity levels and educational experiences beyond educational levels. Future studies should focus on obtaining larger samples with varying TBI severity levels. Samples should also include bilingual Hispanics tested in English as well as monolingual Spanish speakers in order to develop profiles that may be useful in differential diagnosis.

The current study was conducted to obtain preliminary data on the Nova Multilingual Neuropsychological Battery (NMNB) from a sample of 95 undergraduate and graduate university students (46 monolingual English and 49 bilingual English-Spanish speakers). The measure consisted of 39 subtests and an effort measure in English and Spanish, developed to account for language and cultural factors hypothesized to influence neuropsychological test results. The subtests included measures of mental status, reading comprehension, short-term and long-term verbal and visual spatial memory, short-term and long-term verbal and visual spatial recognition memory, motor coordination, processing speed, serial learning, anomia, and executive functioning. An acculturation measure was also administered. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in performance between the Bilingual Spanish group compared to the Monolingual English and Bilingual English groups, with anticipated better performance in the Monolingual English and Bilingual English groups compared to the Bilingual Spanish group. It was also hypothesized that there would be a significant positive correlation between level of acculturation and test performance. Results of ANCOVAs, controlling for the effects of age and education, compared the performance of 20 bilingual participants on the Spanish version of the test between the 46 English monolinguals and 29 bilingual participants administered the English version of the test. Results of the ANCOVA's did not generally support the hypothesis at the p < .01 level that bilingual speakers administered the Spanish version of this measure would perform significantly lower compared to bilingual speakers or monolingual English speakers administered the English version. The subtest Verbal Command was significant for poorer performance in the Bilingual Spanish group compared to the Bilingual English group. The subtest Categorical Fluency was significant for poorer performance in the Bilingual Spanish group compared to the Monolingual English group and the Bilingual English group. The results of Pearson Product-Moment correlations (p < .01) did not support the hypothesis of a positive correlation between acculturation and test performance for the bilingual groups. Only three of the 39 subtests were correlated with acculturation in the he Bilingual English group. These results were inconsistent with prior research on neuropsychological test performance for Spanish-speaking populations. Previous research on several Spanish neuropsychological measures administered to Spanish-speaking participants, such as the Mini Mental State Exam, Digit Span, and the Spanish Naming Test, typically resulted in significantly poorer performance for bilingual or monolingual Spanish speakers compared to English speaking participants administered the same tests in English. Additionally, preliminary research with acculturation and neuropsychological assessment had suggested that higher levels of acculturation would result in better neuropsychological test performance. However, these results should be interpreted with caution as there were limitations to this study which included a small sample size, a sample of higher education level participants, and exposure to the English language and the U.S. educational system. Future studies should focus on development of normative data for the older adult population, individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury and monolingual Spanish speakers so that information can be made available for this underserved population.

<p> This quantitative correlational non-experimental study examines some major implications of student loan debt that Hispanics face upon graduation from institutions of higher learning. It provides both descriptive and correlational statistics to help view how Hispanics differ from non-Hispanics graduate students in their plight to live the American dream of social mobility. Hispanics now represent over 50 million and are the fastest growing (43% between the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census) segment of the U.S. population. </p><p> The belief that gaining a college degree will enhance social mobility may in fact impede it, or at least, delay it for Hispanics. With the increase in borrowing to gain college access, Hispanic families may face financial constraints impeding social mobility. This study explores the surveys conducted (2008&ndash;2012) by the National Center for Education Statistics and consisting of approximately 13,500 students in postsecondary schools across the United States. The statistical analysis suggests that for Hispanic student graduates in higher education there may be a relationship between student loan debt and financial difficulties, including home affordability, getting married, and having children. The analysis explores the differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics along these four dimensions. </p><p> Additionally, this study suggests several leadership practices as a way of influencing initiatives that may help address student loan debt for Hispanics. Recommendations for additional research include assessing measures that address the rise in borrowing by Hispanic graduates.</p>