The purpose of this dissertation was to provide teachers, principals, district administrators, and local, state, and national legislators with an understanding of what the perception is of Hispanic American Immigrant parents regarding their access to parental engagement and agency through the American public school system, specifically elementary…

The United States is facing a bilingual teacher shortage, a fact that is particularly troubling as the emergent bilingual population continues to grow nationwide. Prior research suggests that the shortage of bilingual teachers may affect the quality of instruction emergent bilinguals receive, yet little is known about the potential effects of this…

This case study examined action research conducted by bilingual education teachers in urban schools as a tool for progressing from novice-to-expert teachers. We described a longitudinal study across four cohorts of first-year bilingual education teachers as action researchers (n = 9). The study investigated the following: (1) how school leaders…

This article reports the results of a social network analysis (SNA) performed on the mother's primary network of interaction in 15 Mexican American families in the city of El Paso, Texas, the neighbourhood of La Villita, in Chicago, and the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. The goal of this study was to examine potential opportunities for Spanish use by…

Expanding upon Yosso's theory of "community cultural wealth," this interview-based qualitative study finds that Mexican youth in an urban two-year English immersion high school here referred to as Literacy High are assisted academically by what Yosso would call their "aspirational capital" and what the present article theorizes…

This person-centered study examines the extent to which parents' language dominance influences the effects of an after school, multi-family group intervention, FAST, on low-income children's emotional and behavioral outcomes via parents' relations with other parents and with school staff. Social capital resides in relationships of trust and shared…

Building on Freire's (1970) emancipatory learning theory and Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) approach, this article examines parents' participation in a family literacy project. Specifically, we focus on 10 Latina mothers and explore their interactions and relationships as a type of meaningful parental involvement. The research…

With the study rise of the Hispanic population in the United States over the last 25-years there has been a languished progression of this populations' educational attainment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to tap into the "black-box" of ten academically successful Latino students from San Antonio by capturing the life history…

Federal and state policies have long sought to address the social inequities faced by limited English proficient (LEP) students through the improvement of English language acquisition. English language acquisition policy has focused on access to resources, qualified teachers, and instructional methodologies (e.g. pedagogy) that create a learning…