Exploring Latino Parent Attitudes Toward Science, Involvement in Science, and Perceptions of Value and Comfort of Family Science Events

Exploring Latino Parent Attitudes Toward Science, Involvement in Science, and Perceptions of Value and Comfort of Family Science Events PDF Author: Izaak Javier DeLeon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hispanic Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Diversity within teams and organizations guards against groupthink and overconfidence and improves their ability to problem solve and make predictions. Even though efforts have been made to increase diversity within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, marginalized groups are still largely underrepresented in the STEM workforce. This study focused on the Latino population gap in representation within the STEM fields. Most programs aimed at increasing Latino representation in science focus on directly encouraging students to pursue STEM careers. This study explored Latino parents' attitudes toward science and what types of informal science activities parents engage in with their children. I organized 15 family science events in San Marcos, Texas, in which parents completed a pre- and post-event attitude toward science survey and an additional parental involvement survey to find out their attitudes towards science and what types of informal science activities they are involved in with their children. The activities and experiments performed during the family science events utilized common household items or items that were inexpensive. Twenty-two Latino parents participated in the study and 15 completed both the pre- and post-attitude toward science survey. The attitude toward science survey had 14 items and was scored using a Likert-type scale with a minimum and maximum score of 14 and 70 respectively. I used the non-parametric one-tail Wilcoxon signed-rank test to test for significant differences between the pre and post attitude toward science scores. Latino parent's pre- and post-event attitude toward science means were 59.9 and 62.3 respectively for attending at least one family science event and this difference was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of (p=0.009). However, the effect size (Cohen's d=0.365) was small and power (0.363) was low. On the parental involvement survey, Latino parents identified 27 science activities that they have performed with their children, with 67% of those being discovery-based indoor activities and 59% being free activities. In terms of parent participation, the majority of Latino parents (73%) preferred free activities. This study can help inform school districts, principals, teachers, and informal science education organizations on strategies for changing Latino parent's' attitudes toward science and increasing their involvement in their children's science education.

Exploring Latino Parent Attitudes Toward Science, Involvement in Science, and Perceptions of Value and Comfort of Family Science Events

Exploring Latino Parent Attitudes Toward Science, Involvement in Science, and Perceptions of Value and Comfort of Family Science Events PDF Author: Izaak Javier DeLeon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hispanic Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Diversity within teams and organizations guards against groupthink and overconfidence and improves their ability to problem solve and make predictions. Even though efforts have been made to increase diversity within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, marginalized groups are still largely underrepresented in the STEM workforce. This study focused on the Latino population gap in representation within the STEM fields. Most programs aimed at increasing Latino representation in science focus on directly encouraging students to pursue STEM careers. This study explored Latino parents' attitudes toward science and what types of informal science activities parents engage in with their children. I organized 15 family science events in San Marcos, Texas, in which parents completed a pre- and post-event attitude toward science survey and an additional parental involvement survey to find out their attitudes towards science and what types of informal science activities they are involved in with their children. The activities and experiments performed during the family science events utilized common household items or items that were inexpensive. Twenty-two Latino parents participated in the study and 15 completed both the pre- and post-attitude toward science survey. The attitude toward science survey had 14 items and was scored using a Likert-type scale with a minimum and maximum score of 14 and 70 respectively. I used the non-parametric one-tail Wilcoxon signed-rank test to test for significant differences between the pre and post attitude toward science scores. Latino parent's pre- and post-event attitude toward science means were 59.9 and 62.3 respectively for attending at least one family science event and this difference was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of (p=0.009). However, the effect size (Cohen's d=0.365) was small and power (0.363) was low. On the parental involvement survey, Latino parents identified 27 science activities that they have performed with their children, with 67% of those being discovery-based indoor activities and 59% being free activities. In terms of parent participation, the majority of Latino parents (73%) preferred free activities. This study can help inform school districts, principals, teachers, and informal science education organizations on strategies for changing Latino parent's' attitudes toward science and increasing their involvement in their children's science education.

Exploring Latino Parent and School Staff Perspectives on Latino Parent Involvement in Public Schools

Exploring Latino Parent and School Staff Perspectives on Latino Parent Involvement in Public Schools PDF Author: Sarah E Daughtridge
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore experiences and culturally appropriate practices of Latino parents0́9 participation in the public school system. The study also explored school staff perceptions and actions toward Latino parents' school involvement. The study's exploration rests on Epstein (2001) theoretical framework of parent-school involvement. Focus group data were collected in Spanish from 37 Latino parents of students enrolled in six K-12 public schools with at least 11% Latino student's enrollment in eastern North Carolina. Individual interviews were conducted with 11 school officials from three different public schools. Data were transcribed, analyzed (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) and entered into NVIVO version 12 for formal coding. Three major themes emerged from parent data: inadequate communication, low Latino representation, and need for cultural competency. Also, three themes emerged from school staff data: inadequate communication, engagement of county school system, and parental involvement. Suggested strategies to improve the parent/teacher relationship and promote parental involvement in the public school were more trained interpreters, translated materials in Spanish, Latino parent committee, and welcoming environment. Both school staff and parents expressed the need for Latino cultural awareness. School staff expressed the need for Latino parents' active engagement in school events, parent teacher conference, and reaching out to teachers to discuss children school needs. These results have implications toward bridging the gap between Latino parents and public schools.

Family Science

Family Science PDF Author: Sunethra Karunaratne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description


Parenting Matters

Parenting Matters PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309388570
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 525

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Book Description
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions and Experiences of U.s.-born Latino Parents in a High-poverty Urban School District in Relation to Their Role in the Education of Their Children

An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions and Experiences of U.s.-born Latino Parents in a High-poverty Urban School District in Relation to Their Role in the Education of Their Children PDF Author: Sylvia Ramirez Reyna
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
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 children0́9s 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 child0́9s 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.0́3born 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 participants0́9 voices surfaced. The codes were reviewed and categories or themes were then developed. The parents0́9 voices also provided information suggesting that the perceived lack of participation in the sanctioned school activities by some U.S.0́3born 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.

Latino Families' Experiences and Their Parental Involvement with the Ceres Unified School District

Latino Families' Experiences and Their Parental Involvement with the Ceres Unified School District PDF Author: Monica Yepez Tafoya
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences and perceptions of Latino parents and their parental involvement with the Ceres Unified School District. This qualitative study explored a total of six participants. All participants' primary language was Spanish, whose children were enrolled in an elementary school in Ceres Unified School District, and were Latinos. Data were collected through conducting face-to-face interviews using open-ended questions in Spanish. The findings revealed that participants felt comfortable participating in their children education due to the fact that the school provides translators when needed. Latino parents also identified barriers for their involvement such as work schedule, transportation, and child care services. It was found in the study that participants identified the need of English classes to learn English to help their children with their homework, transportation, and child care. It is recommended that social workers work together with the Latino community to overcome these barriers. Community organizations and leaders can work together to provide services such as transportation and English classes. A recommendation for future research would be to create a bridge of communication between parents and the school. Parents might gain a clearer understanding of what is expected from them. In addition, future researchers should use a Participatory Action Research approach to involve parents in the design and evaluation of the intervention programs.

What Should We Expect of Family Literacy?

What Should We Expect of Family Literacy? PDF Author: Jeanne R. Paratore
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
This detailed account explores the effects of parental involvement in a literacy project on their children's academic performance. The authors investigate the ways that parents who participate in an intergenerational literacy project support their children's academic achievement.

The Voices of Latino Parents

The Voices of Latino Parents PDF Author: Evangelina M. Cantu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781303136108
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Significant evidence suggests that parent participation and involvement are beneficial for student success. Latino parents, however, have historically been portrayed negatively in their role in their children's education. Deficit thinking paradigms have framed much of the negative depictions about Latino parents. This study proposes that the negative portrayals of Latino parents may in part be a result of how parent involvement has been traditionally defined. Schools define parent involvement in ways that Latino parents may not conform to. As a result, schools label parents as non-involved. In an effort to demystify the myth that Latino parents do not value nor care for their children's education, this study set out to examine Latino parents' perceptions about parent involvement as well as how they involve themselves in their children's education. The findings suggest that Latino parents define and perceive parent involvement in ways that differ significantly from the way schools have defined it. Furthermore, parents' perceptions of their roles, the role of the school and the teachers point to a need to examine how these perceptions intersect with the perceptions of the school and the teachers. This study presents an alternative way to view parent involvement. It is concluded that the negative depiction of Latino parents is due in part to the fact that schools are expecting them to conform to practices and engage in activities that are not necessarily what they view as important in their children's education. Further research that provides a more inclusive definition and expands the discourse about Latino parent involvement is suggested.

Resources in Education

Resources in Education PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 1062

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Book Description


Exploring Outlooks of First-generation Latino Parents

Exploring Outlooks of First-generation Latino Parents PDF Author: Violetta A. Lopez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children of immigrants
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
Communication between parents and school personnel plays a significant role in student achievement. Spanish-speaking parents are rather hesitant to seek assistance from their child's school as cultural and language barriers have created a mindset that they are not supported, understood, or valued. Key stakeholders in education therefore need to acquire a clearer understanding of the Latino culture in a dire effort to better serve Hispanic students in high school and their families. This study examined the perceptions of first-generation Latino parents of high school students while identifying parental needs to improve their child's college readiness upon completion of high school. It also investigated high school graduation rates and student dropout rates across the United States as well as effective and efficient ways in which the school can enhance the provision of school-related resources to their students. There is wide consensus that parental involvement (including home-based involvement, home-school communication, and school-based involvement) is essential for student success. Despite this understanding, there exists a gap in literature regarding the information, resources, and support available to first-generation Latino parents with children in high school. Using a conceptual framework that draws on theories of cultural and social capital, and a qualitative approach that included field notes, focus groups, and interviews, this study investigated the expectations, lived experiences, perceptions, and practices of 29 Latino immigrant parents of high school students in relation to their child's secondary school. The findings of this study, which suggest varying levels of parental involvement, were organized around four themes: aspirations, parental support, school-based knowledge, and student preparation.