A greater understanding of how level of acculturation influences parent-teen sex communication is needed to implement effective teen pregnancy prevention and safer sex education. My research sought to examine how levels of acculturation into mainstream U.S. culture influence parent-teen sex communication among Latinos. I examined level of acculturation (via language preference and nativity) and gender of adolescents in relation to discussion of sex and specific sex topics with parents. More acculturated Latinos were more likely to discuss sex, STIs, saying no to sex, and condoms with their parents than those less acculturated Latinos. Greater acculturation was also associated with greater quantity of sex topics discussed with parents when compared to Latinos that preferred Spanish. Less acculturated Latinos in the sample were more likely to have never discussed sex with their parents compared to more acculturated Latinos. Latino participant’s gender was not a statistically significant predictor of parent-teen communication.

Involving community participants in the adaptation of culturally-specific programs has the potential to greatly enhance program fit, particularly for socio-politically distinct implementation sites. Findings from a case study of a leadership-training program for Latina survivors of domestic violence in Atlanta, GA support a participant-centered approach to program adaptation and evaluation. A summary of the adaptation process and themes from a qualitative analysis of structured interviews with program facilitators are presented. Implications for the leadership program and future research in the area of program adaptation are discussed.

This research study was a qualitative study involving eight current or former school board members of a recently annexed, rural, impoverished, Latino school district in South Texas. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to highlight the plight of rural education, specifically the plight of a poor school district by examining the perceptions of the school board members. This study was organized around the following sensitizing concerns (Blumer, 1969; Patton, 2002; Schwandt, 2001): What were the school board members’ perceptions about the school district prior to the annexation? What were the school board members’ perceptions of the factors that contributed to the annexation? What were the school board members’ perceptions of the effect of the annexation on the community? The method of inquiry was conversational information interviews (Patton, 2002), two unstructured interviews with each school board member, going where the interviews took me (Fontana & Frey, 2005). The themes revealed in the research included (1) power dynamics, with three sub-themes, (a) trusting those in power, (b) deferring to those in power, and (c) becoming those in power; (2) denial of the obvious, and (3) unspoken paternalism—the Anglo patron system. This study offers implications for policy, practice, and additional research in the areas of rural communities and rural school districts, but most importantly, it provides evidence that rural colonias located along the U.S.-Mexico border have unique educational needs. Rural school districts located along this border need strong school leaders with “a critical leadership of place that support community as a context for learning, understand that schools and their local communities are inextricably linked and that the ability of each to thrive is dependent upon the other” (Budge, 2006, p.8).

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive research study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of seven second- and third-generation U.S.-born Latino parents in a high-poverty urban school district in Texas regarding their role in their children’s schooling. Specifically, this study was organized to understand what the selected Latino parents perceived as parent involvement, what expectations they had of the school and, conversely, what expectations the school personnel had of them, and finally, what perceptions the parents held about their role in school-parent activities. Though parent involvement is considered to be one of the most important factors in a child’s success in school, this study also explored the perceived chasm in the alignment between the school and the home of the U.S.-born Latino family. The interpretative approach and dialogical exchange, through a semi-structured interview process, provided the opportunity to add the voices of second- and third-generation U.S.–born Latino parents to the current discourse about parent involvement. All of the participants met a general description as a second- or third-generation U.S.-born Latino, whose primary language is English, whose children have been involved in the identified school system for at least five years and were academically successful, and who the school considered to be uninvolved in the schooling process. The data analysis process involved a methodical process of breaking down the information presented in in-depth interview transcripts, observation, field notes, documents, and participant and researcher texts. By using a focused coding technique, patterns or concepts that best represented the participants’ voices surfaced. The codes were reviewed and categories or themes were then developed. The parents’ voices also provided information suggesting that the perceived lack of participation in the sanctioned school activities by some U.S.–born Latino parents stems from an apparent failure on the part of school personnel to recognize the cultural capital and richness of the culturally diverse household. Specifically, through the theoretical framework of funds of knowledge, the stories of the seven second- and third-generation U.S.-born Latinos noted that Latino families have assets that contribute to the academic success of their children, yet they are often dismissed by school personnel.

In this study, I specify the reasons why racial minority undergraduate students choose to pursue higher education studies at historically White colleges/universities, despite the schools' potential for diversity controversies. Rather than looking at why students do not attend historically White institutions, I investigate what characteristics of both the educational institutions and the students contribute to students' decisions to stay at historically White institutions despite perceived hostile environments. I also examine students' experiences at historically White institutions, including attitudes toward diversity and any discrimination that they may experience. In doing so, this study adds a fresh yet central perspective to the complex issue of diversity: the opinions of students of color themselves. Doing so may lead to more positive answers and propositions for what administrations can do to increase the percentage of racial minority students. The study is a mixed-methods approach, including 17 semi-structured interviews with Latina/o students and a sample of 287 students who self-identify as racial minorities, including Latina/os, African Americans, and Asian Americans, at a historically White southern university. From these mixed-method results, the following themes were found: 1) The size of a hometown has a statistically significant effect on how often discrimination is experienced, 2) Self-identifying as Black has a statistically significant effect on how often discrimination is experienced, 3) Latina/o students choose to attend SCU because of university affordability, proximity to their home towns, and the university's academic reputation, 4) Latina/o students experience racial oppression at SCU because of the lack of campus diversity, direct racist acts toward themselves and friends, and they consider transferring to more diverse educational institutions, and 5) Latina/o students remain at SCU because they want to make a difference at the university for themselves and others, certain characteristics of the university are appealing, and because of professorial mentors.

This research study was a qualitative study involving eight current or former school board members of a recently annexed, rural, impoverished, Latino school district in South Texas. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to highlight the plight of rural education, specifically the plight of a poor school district by examining the perceptions of the school board members. This study was organized around the following sensitizing concerns (Blumer, 1969; Patton, 2002; Schwandt, 2001): What were the school board members' perceptions about the school district prior to the annexation? What were the school board members' perceptions of the factors that contributed to the annexation? What were the school board members' perceptions of the effect of the annexation on the community? The method of inquiry was conversational information interviews (Patton, 2002), two unstructured interviews with each school board member, going where the interviews took me (Fontana & Frey, 2005). The themes revealed in the research included (1) power dynamics, with three sub-themes, (a) trusting those in power, (b) deferring to those in power, and (c) becoming those in power; (2) denial of the obvious, and (3) unspoken paternalism-the Anglo patron system. This study offers implications for policy, practice, and additional research in the areas of rural communities and rural school districts, but most importantly, it provides evidence that rural colonias located along the U.S.-Mexico border have unique educational needs. Rural school districts located along this border need strong school leaders with "a critical leadership of place that support community as a context for learning, understand that schools and their local communities are inextricably linked and that the ability of each to thrive is dependent upon the other" (Budge, 2006, p.8).

The primary purpose of this study was to assess Spanish-speaking patients’ satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists’ communication skills and demonstration of cultural sensitivity and to determine their association with Spanish-speaking patients’ socio-demographic, clinical, and communication factors, as well as pharmacists’ Spanish proficiency, cultural rapport, knowledge of complementary and alternative medicines, and race/ethnicity. A self-administered survey was designed to assess the study objectives, and a convenience sample of 93 adult (≥18 years) Spanish speakers with limited English proficiency was obtained from five CommUnityCare Health Centers in Austin, Texas. Satisfaction with communication skills and satisfaction with cultural sensitivity were measured as a 6-item construct and a 4-item construct, respectively, where Spanish-speaking patients rated their satisfaction using a 4-point Likert scale (1=extremely dissatisfied, 2=dissatisfied, 3=satisfied, 4=extremely satisfied). The participants’ mean age was 52.0±14.3 years, where respondents primarily were female (65.9%), utilized publicly-funded insurance (100%), received less than a high school education (86.9%), and reported a “fair” health status (64.8%). Spanish-speaking participants reported overall satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists’ communication skills (3.6±0.5) and demonstration of cultural sensitivity (3.6±0.5). Study participants also indicated items within the cultural rapport subscale were generally important characteristics to Spanish speakers (3.5±0.5). The cultural rapport subscale instructed participants to rate the importance of pharmacists’ specific characteristics (i.e., speaks Spanish, is Latino, provides written information in Spanish, is respectful, is kind, is friendly, and understandings the importance of family opinion in healthcare decisions) on a 4-point Likert scale, where 1=not at all important, 2=somewhat important, 3=important, 4=very important. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that cultural rapport was the only significant predictor of Spanish speakers’ satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists’ communication skills (p<0.01) and demonstration of cultural sensitivity (p<0.001). The results of this study may be instrumental in understanding the communication-related and cultural sensitivity-related needs of Spanish speakers in relation to pharmacists’ cultural rapport and may help initiate future initiatives and interventions involving pharmacists and Spanish-speaking patients with limited English proficiency. / text

Advanced placement courses are designed to be innovative and rigorous and also encourage and promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Currently, most high schools across the United States offer advanced placement courses with the intent that students enrolled in such courses will be prepared for entering and completing college courses. While advanced placement courses are intended to promote enriched learning experiences for all students, the enrollment of Latino students in high school advanced placement courses is low as compared to other student groups excluding African American students (College Board, 2010). Despite reports, studies, and literature surrounding equity and access in the advanced placement program, research and literature is limited with respect to identifying factors that influence the enrollment in advanced placement courses in high schools from the perspective of Latino students. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence Latino students in their decision to enroll and participate in advanced placement courses in high schools. Moreover, identifying factors that influence enrollment in advanced placement courses from the perspective of the Latino student was critical to analyzing current practice and informing future strategies for increasing enrollment in high school advanced placement courses. This qualitative case study provided rich, descriptive data drawn from student experiences and perceptions from individual interviews that allowed for flexibility and opportunities for further exploration of topics or ideas that emerged from the research to best identify the factors that influence enrollment in advanced placement courses. / text

Educational 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 / text

At the conclusion of the U.S. Mexican War in 1848, Mexican Americans across the United States found their disjointed communities struggling to adapt to a newly acquired national status. My project argues that Mexican American literary manhood functioned as a representational strategy that instantiated a Mexican American national public and that sutured regional communities into a national whole. Within a transnational, multilingual archive, Mexican American manhood served as a means through which to articulate multiple forms of citizenship and competing cultural investments in U.S. and Mexican national projects. Between 1848 and the 1960s -- that is, prior to the Chicano movement -- USAmerican writers looked to Mexican American manhood for this purpose because it was inseparable from a rival sovereign state, revealed an inconsistent racial hierarchy, and troubled gendered ideals of the civil participation, yet simultaneously contained such contradictions. For Mexican American writers Manuel C. de Baca, Adolfo Carrillo, Maria Cristina Mena, Jovita González, Américo Paredes and José Antonio Villarreal, manhood offered a tactic for imagining participation in national citizenship, unhindered by institutional or legal impediments, although each represented Mexican American manhood in radically different ways. Conversely, authors Gertrude Atherton, Stephen Crane, and Jack London turned to Mexican American manhood as a powerful tool for disenfranchising or assimilating Mexican American communities from and into the U.S. nation. For these authors, Mexican American manhood was instrumental in the dissemination of narratives of American progress because it facilitated claims to continental and imperial expansion, reinforcing ideals of Anglo American manhood and masking claims to whiteness. Through analysis of prose fiction in both English and Spanish, my dissertation explicates the cultural creation of Mexican American literary manhood as a constitutive category of American manhood and as a textual strategy that positions Mexican Americans as national citizens. / text