<p>Research has demonstrated that acculturative stress is an important influence on anxiety and depression in Latinos, however methodological issues limit generalizability of findings. The present study examines Latino subgroup (i.e., Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican) differences in the influence of acculturative stress on Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Secondary data analysis of data from 2,554 Latino immigrants in the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) included stratified hierarchical logistic regression. The NLAAS collected data via in-person interviews at the participants' homes by bilingual interviewers in the participants&rsquo; language of choice. Acculturative stress was significantly related to MDD for Other Latinos (<i>p</i> &lt; .001), and to GAD for Mexicans (<i>p</i> = .040). Results provide empirical evidence for the need to disaggregate Latino subgroups. Subgroup heterogeneity may introduce important contextual factors that should be accounted for when exploring their mental health, particularly when examining acculturative stress. </p>

<p> Latino college enrollment rates in South Carolina do not reflect the overall increase in the Latino population in the state, which suggests that schools, colleges, and universities may be unprepared to serve the unique needs of Latino students. Consequently, Latino students are less likely to pursue opportunities in higher education than their non-Latino counterparts, which raises significant public policy concerns about equity and the potential economic contributions of the Latino communities. The purpose of this narrative policy analysis (NPA), based upon critical race theory, was to explore the perceptions of Latino students, parents, and advocates related to opportunities in pursuing education after high school in Greenville County, SC. Criterion and snowball sampling identified 15 individuals from whom interview data were acquired. Participants included 7 Latino students, 3 of their parents, and 5 advocates of Latino student attainment of college education. Secondary data consisted of higher education related legislation, policy documents, and reports. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using Roe&rsquo;s NPA procedure. These findings suggest that, at least according to these 15 participants, multiple barriers to college enrollment exist, including cultural expectations and unfamiliarity with the college application and financial aid processes. This study could encourage policy makers to consider perspectives of critical race theory as they create policies and support culturally relevant programs and financial aid guidance to Latino parents, students, and high school counselors. Such programs would lead to positive social change by promoting higher educational achievement, which is essential for the profitable employment of Latinos in the private and public sectors in South Carolina.</p>

One hundred and fifteen second and third grade Anglo and Hispanic boys and girls from an isolated rural town in Arizona were tested on two nonverbal measures of cognitive skills to ascertain their predictive validity and ethnic bias. Bias was addressed by regression analysis, a technique that allows for the comparison of slopes and intercepts for two or more groups. The children from both ethnics were roughly equated on SES variables due to the location and nature of the community. The Raven's Coloured Test of Cognitive Skills (NTCS) were employed to predict the state-mandated California Achievement Test (CAT) and the pupils' grade point average (GPA). The results suggested that the Raven's exhibits both slope and intercept bias for three of the four criterion variables whereas the NTCS demonstrated bias only in terms of GPA. Both nonverbal tests correlated highly indicating that they are measuring similar skills. The NTCS generally had higher predictive validity than the Raven's. A combination of the two tests increased prediction by only a small amount. These results indicate that, contrary to previous research, the Raven's may be a biased predictor for Hispanics and that the NTCS appears both less biased and a better predictor. Both nonverbal test validities approached the WISC-R correlation coefficients for Hispanics. Neither test proved to be a potent predictor of Anglo test scores or GPAs. This differential validity infers that the nonverbal tests be employed with caution with native English speakers. The hypothesized reasons for the better performance of the NTCS included its measuring of more than one skill. The two tests were contrasted in terms of psychometric considerations, training time, and testing time. Limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further research with various non-native speakers of English was discussed.

No description available.

<p> Sexual violence against women has persisted throughout time and has proven to carry many detrimental psychological and health complications. Individuals at a higher risk for experiencing sexual violence are women of lower socioeconomic status and ethnic minorities. This curriculum was developed as a prevention program that will serve to educate young Latinas in the topic of sexual violence and enhance awareness of personal values about sex, relationships and stress management. The curriculum highlights the role that ethnicity plays in the main risk factors involved sexual violence. Specifically, young Latinas can be provided with valuable psycho education and the knowledge needed to protect themselves against the many forms of sexual violence in their communities. </p>

<p> The English Language Learners (ELL) student population continues to increase in American schools. Schools have the obligation and privilege to serve this population, but challenges exist to help ELLs become proficient in all subjects. The need for educators to use research-based best practices is critical to help best serve ELLs and to increase academic achievement. The researchers conducted a mixed-methods study in order to identify the research-based practices proven to increase the academic achievement of ELLs. The researchers found that Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) was a research-based framework proven to help ELLs academically. ELL Directors of middle Tennessee districts having statistically significant gains with ELLs believed that the top best practices to use with ELLs were activating prior knowledge and building background, comprehensible input, academic vocabulary, explicit instruction and differentiated instruction. Teachers within Southeastern School District (SSD) believed the top five practices to use with ELLs were activating prior knowledge and building background, differentiated instruction, scaffolding instruction, teaching academic vocabulary, and continual review of vocabulary and content. The study also found the instructional models that work best with the varying levels of ELLs. The instructional model best used with newcomers was pullout, and for active ELLs, either pullout or push-in. Push-in or Structured English Immersion was most effective with Transitional 1 and Structured English Immersion for Transitional 2 ELL students. Educational stakeholders can use the findings of this study in order to promote the academic achievement of ELLs.</p>

<p> Cervical cancer, although not widely considered a fatal disease in this day and age, still has a major impact on women&rsquo;s health around the world and in the U.S. Worldwide, invasive cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women and is prominent in Mexico. Screening rates for cervical cancer are lower among Hispanic women. Although interventions have been tested to determine effectiveness in increasing the uptake of cervical cancer screening, there is no support of the effectiveness of group education, especially among Hispanic women. The overarching goal of the current research was to determine the mode of educational delivery &ndash; individual or group &mdash; that is most effective in encouraging cervical cancer screening so as to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Texas Border Counties. We also assessed the effect of mode of intervention delivery on knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, subjective norms, and self-efficacy. A secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled study embedded within the <i>De Case en Casa</i> program was conducted in El Paso and Hudspeth County. 300 women between the ages of 21 and 65 who were uninsured, had never been diagnosed with cervical cancer or never had a hysterectomy, had not had a Pap test in the past 3 years, and had an income greater than 200% of the federal poverty level participated in the study. 150 women received the intervention in a group setting and 150 women received the intervention individually. 80.7% of participants were screened. No significant difference was found in uptake of cervical cancer screening by mode of educational delivery. The decrease in perceived barriers reached significance by mode of intervention delivery, with a larger decrease among those who received the education in a group setting. There was a significant increase in perceived benefits by uptake of cervical cancer screening with a larger increase among those who were not screened. No other construct reached significance. In conclusion, findings demonstrated that group education is effective in increasing cervical cancer screening among Hispanic women in a border county.</p>

<p> Despite the benefits of a college education and the resources allocated to college preparedness programs, Latino minorities, at 12.7% of college students, continue to be overwhelmingly underrepresented in institutions of higher educational (Zarate &amp; Burciaga, 2010). The graduation gap between lower and higher income students as well as minority students is due in part to lack of academic preparation, underfunding and staffing, and affordability of resources and support (Tinto, 2008). There is a need to increase students attending universities. Individuals with an advanced degrees are more likely to enjoy a higher standard of living, donate time and or money to various organizations, and live healthier lifestyles. Moreover, graduates are also less likely to live in poverty, have children at a young age, and partake in illegal activities (Contreras, 2011). </p><p> Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify how sociocultural factors, peer affiliation, adult mentorship, and institutional barriers, affected the K-16 pathways of Latino individuals graduating from a STEM-based 6^th-12^th grade charter school. Results of this study show that home factors such as English language acquisition, level of education, and adult time spent with their children played a significant role in academic achievement. School-based factors, including: course offerings, strong mentorship, and choice of friends also significantly impacted student success and matriculation to college.</p><p> Results of this study will inform high school leadership teams on how to target and reshape their academic and college preparedness programs to better fit the needs of their Latino students. By addressing specific sociocultural characteristics as well as institutional deficiencies, we hope to increase the percentage of Latino students entering in and persisting through college.</p>

<p> For decades, researchers have investigated strengths and challenges promoting early healthy childhood development, in terms of physical, social emotional and linguistic aspects, for a variety of children groups in the United States. Due to the limited availability of research on the Latino population, addressing the needs of the growing population of Latino children throughout the United States is challenging. Latino students living in the United States are academically behind students of other ethnicities. In 2011, Latinos were identified as the largest and fastest growing minority group in the U.S. with the lowest education attainment levels. Unfortunately, less than 50% of Latino children are less likely to be enrolled in early childhood programs.</p><p> The purpose of this research was to examine the Latino parents&rsquo; beliefs, values and knowledge affecting their decision-making process in opting to send their children to Early childhood programs (ECPs), impacting their readiness for school. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from Latino parent/guardians, Preschool to first grade teachers, and administrators from 9 schools in a school district in Phoenix, Arizona and analyzed. Qualitative data were collected in the form of in-depth interviews and surveys as sources of data from participants. Qualitative data were analyzed using two cycles of coding and represented through matrices. Quantitative data were analyzed using a descriptive analytical method. Five themes emerged that informed the research questions.</p><p> Findings of this study suggested that capitalizing on the Latino parents&rsquo; cultural wealth can help district administrators and policy makers to maximize opportunities for this growing minority group to increase their readiness to kindergarten and success in school. It is important to increase access to high quality early programs to help children begin kindergarten with the necessary tools to succeed in school and in life.</p>

<p> Latinos across the country drop out of high school at higher rates and attain college degrees at lower rates than their peers (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2015b, 2015c). Consequently, they face socioeconomic struggles as adults (NCES, 2016). Understanding and supporting Latino college enrollment may improve educational and socioeconomic outcomes for Latinos. </p><p> The research questions were: 1. How does a mixed methods multiphase study provide an enhanced understanding of Latino college enrollment motivation? (MM) a. How do Latino students describe their motivation to enroll in college? (QL). b. How important do Latino students believe the following variables are in motivating them to go to college: family, school, people, opportunities and benefits, and achievement goals? (QN). c. What is the relationship between Latino motivation to enroll in college and the following demographic variables: age, gender, ethnicity, generation status, family household composition, home neighborhood, income, parent/guardian level of education, and type of high school attended? (QN). d. How do educators describe Latino motivation to enroll in college? (QL). e. How do educators interpret, explain, and extend Phase II survey findings about Latino college enrollment motivation? (QL). f. How do Latino students interpret, explain, and extend Phase II survey findings about Latino college enrollment motivation? (QL). </p><p> Phase I explored motivation through dyadic interviews with Latino college students (<i>N</i>=6). Phase I data informed the development of a Phase II questionnaire administered to Latino college students (<i> N</i>=120). Phase III comprised key informant interviews with educators (<i>N</i>=3). Consenting Phase II participants (<i>n</i>=3) completed reflective questionnaires during Phase IV. Qualitative data were analyzed using Boyatzis&rsquo; (1998) thematic analysis framework. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. </p><p> Qualitative analyses revealed five motivation themes: parents, school, teachers, opportunities/benefits, and that schools can do more. Quantitative analyses revealed significant differences in motivation and the following demographic variables: age, gender, family household composition, income, and parent/guardian level of education. Opportunities/benefits was the most important motivation variable reported (<i>M</i>=4.42, <i> SD</i>=.50). </p><p> Results from this study may provide educational leaders with a richer understanding of Latino college enrollment motivation in order to inform educational practice and policy, and improve Latino achievement.</p>