Latina/o students do not perform at the same level of achievement as their peers, and often lack of parent presence is mistaken for apathy towards their children’s educational success. This research examines the strategies Latina/o parents take in navigating the school system and advocating for their students. A local nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving educational equity for Latina/o parents will utilize these findings and recommendations to develop curricula for a parent literacy program.

Parents are often criticized for the types of roles they play in their children’s education. Rather than assuming parents do not contribute to their children’s learning, this study identified the various ways Hispanic parents support mathematics learning in the home. Using a funds of knowledge lens, the history, practices, and experiences of families that contributed to their children’s mathematics understanding was explored. The purpose of this study was to identify the unique funds of knowledge among three Hispanic families living in the same city, specifically, how parents supported their children’s mathematics learning through funds of knowledge. Five Hispanic parents from three households participated in a series of three home interviews. The semi--‐structured interviews addressed family, school, and educational history of the parents, routines of the household, and perceived roles parents played in their children’s mathematics learning. Participants contributed to their children’s mathematics learning through various funds of knowledge including time management, music, sports, construction, shopping, and cooking. Participating parents shared knowledge with their children through questioning and discussion, providing experiences, and promoting practice. In this study, participants valued education and supported their children’s mathematics learning at home and school activities. This study contributes to the existing funds of knowledge research by expanding the work on how Hispanic parents support mathematics learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 29, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-65).

Language brokering is known as the translating transaction between two individuals. This study seeks to investigate the language brokering which occurs between Latino parents and their children. In particular, it seeks to examine Latino parents' comfort level in different brokering settings/places and with different individuals.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, page: 2669. Adviser: Theresa L. Byrd. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to obtain a profile of San Bernardino Latino foster emancipated youth regarding their positive and challenging experiences. The focus is on emancipated youth and immigrant acculturation. The study examined the kinds of programs and factors that have had the most success in enabling foster youth to become independent adults.

Two studies investigated the characteristics of high-risk Hispanic parents with young children who were enrolled in a primary prevention home visitation program targeting first birth families. In the first study, more and less acculturated high-risk Hispanic families were compared to high-risk non-Hispanic White families on differences in demographic characteristics, risk factors associated with poor child outcomes, and parent behaviors related to infant health. Using the General Linear Model Univariate procedure, these characteristics were then related to level of parenting skills, measured after approximately one year of service. A total of 1005 families were included in the study. There were important differences in parent psychosocial characteristics, health risks, and outcomes among Hispanic families. Hispanic mothers who were more acculturated, as measured by use of English in the home, were more likely to be at risk for substance abuse, mental illness, and family conflict. They were more likely to smoke and less likely to breastfeed. Less acculturated Hispanic mothers were less educated and more likely to be isolated. Controlling for pretest scores and education level, there were significant between group differences on parenting skills after one year of service, however the effect was small and overshadowed by the significant interaction effect between partner status and household category. Scores for single Spanish-speaking Hispanic mothers were significantly lower than scores of Spanish-speaking Hispanics in partner households. Risk factors that were positively associated with program progress included breastfeeding and mother's education level. Smoking, mental illness, and unrealistic expectations for the child were negatively associated with program progress. The second paper addressed the efficacy of an age-paced parenting newsletter as part of a home-visiting program for Spanish-speaking Hispanic parents. Family Service Workers serving these families delivered the newsletter and used it as a curriculum guide and teaching tool for families. Parents reported reading the newsletter, learning from it, and changing their behavior in response to newsletter content. Home visitors reported that it was a useful tool to reach high-risk parents with important parenting information. They found that it was particularly useful to combat inappropriate or unhealthful parenting advice from well-meaning family members and friends. / Graduation date: 2004

Acculturation, defined as the process of adopting the behaviors and beliefs of the dominant host culture, is often associated with dietary change and negative health outcomes, such as increased risk for obesity and diet-related diseases. The large and rising immigrant population in the U.S. necessitates a better understanding of the acculturation process in order to design appropriate health and nutrition interventions. It is well established that parents play a key role in child and preadolescent nutrition through parenting style and control of the home food environment. However, little is known about the potential influence of parental acculturation on preadolescent children's dietary patterns and habits, frequency and characteristics of family meals, and parent child-feeding behaviors, particularly among families who have lived in the U.S. for a considerable time and whose children have grown up in the U.S. The objective of this study was to quantitatively examine the association between parental acculturation and parent child-feeding behaviors, family meals, and child dietary patterns and habits in families where the primary food-providing parent self-identified as Asian/Asian American ("Asian") or Hispanic/Latino ("Hispanic"). Nativity was used as a proxy measure of acculturation, with foreign-born (FB) parents assumed to be less acculturated than native-born (NB). Sampled participants from nine states consisted of 74 Asian and 134 Hispanic parents or caretakers and their preadolescent children. Survey questions addressed children's intake of foods considered typical of the American diet to determine associations between frequency of consumption and parental nativity. Parent child-feeding behaviors examined were parental encouragement of milk-drinking and breakfast consumption, and discouragement of soda-drinking. Lastly, associations between frequent family meals and meals away from home and parental nativity were examined. Among Asian participants, no statistically significant associations were found between child intakes, family meals, or parenting behaviors among NB versus FB parents. However, among the Hispanic group, parental nativity was significantly associated with several variables. Children of NB parents were more likely to frequently consume hamburgers or hot dogs with cheese, chocolate bars, cupcakes or cake, and soda. By contrast, children of FB parents were more likely to consume raw broccoli and pancakes, waffles, or French toast frequently. NB parents had greater odds of encouraging children’s milk intake at lunch. Families with NB parents also had significantly greater odds of consuming dinner together five or more days per week. The findings of this study suggest that parental nativity may have some influence on children's dietary patterns and habits, parent child-feeding behaviors, and family meals among Hispanics. More research is needed in larger, more representative, and culturally specific samples. The results of this study suggest that nutrition interventions targeting Asian and Hispanic families with preadolescent children may benefit families with a wide range of parental acculturation, although some interventions may be slightly more applicable to the more or less acculturated. Potential areas for intervention include coaching parents on effective child-feeding behaviors and strategies for fostering healthy eating practices, promoting quality family meals, and educating parents on the health risks and sources of excess sugar. / Graduation date: 2012

Using a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study examined the perspectives of Latino parents and their involvement in the decision of their child to enroll in an advanced mathematics course in sixth grade. Since enrollment in Algebra I in high school is said to be a strong predictor of college attainment and with the growing number of Latino students across the nation, this study has the potential to help district and campus leaders establish whole-school systems for communicating with Latino parents to encourage their children to enroll in advanced mathematics courses at earlier grades. Participants in this study included four sixth-grade students enrolled in an advanced mathematics course, four enrolled in regular mathematics, their mother or father, two mathematics teachers, a school counselor, and two district administrators. Data analyzed included audio recordings of semi-structured interviews of each of the participants. The findings suggested that the district has proactively developed a systematic process of creating that includes six data points to create a student profile of students that will do well in advanced mathematics. This process is helping the district close the gap between total Latino school enrollment and the enrollment of Latino students in advanced mathematics. The findings also suggested that specific communication with parents about the importance of enrollment trajectories might influence the enrollment of students into advanced mathematics courses at earlier grades.