This Data Point examines the barriers due to speaking a language other than English faced by Spanish-speaking families of enrolled students when they try to participate in their student's school activities. It also explores the language services that are provided by schools to Spanish-speaking parents. This Data Point uses data collected from the…

Current approaches to supporting students in the transition to elementary school fail to meet the needs of Latinx immigrant children and their families in the United States. Typical approaches place the responsibility on families to help their children adapt to the expectations of their teacher, classroom, and school without recognizing the…

We present our nascent "STEM Access and Training for Underserved Students" (STATUS), a model to attract Latinx students first to attend college and second to enter the STEM fields. The program consists of a series of hands-on investigative activities in physiology, neuroscience, biophysics, genetics, exercise physiology, biomechanics,…

When an English learner is referred for an evaluation for disability and possible special education services, educators must establish a trusting relationship with that student's family, clarifying the process for them and making the family part of all decision making. Urtubey explains cultural differences we should be aware of in how many Latinx…

The purpose of this article is to share tensions experienced by the Center for Community-Based Learning and Engagement (CU Engage) at the University of Colorado Boulder during its attempts to facilitate social justice-oriented community change. These tensions speak to larger questions about the goals of community-campus engagement (CCE) programs,…

Avenue Community Development Corporation (Avenue CDC) saw the necessity of increasing parent engagement while fostering leadership development in Houston's Northside community. The primary goals of Avenue CDC's Family Leadership Program are to actively engage parents in their children's education at all grade levels and foster strong relationships…

In this article I introduce a framework that centers indigenous educational sovereignty in university-school partnerships. Developed from collaborative work with Indigenous Maya families who are migrants from Yucatan, Mexico, the framework operates from an understanding that Indigenous parents have knowledge that is important for their children to…

Academic achievement among Latino high school students is a pressing issue as data consistently demonstrates that Latino students underperform and are at higher risk of dropping out of high school than their non-Latino peers. This paper reviews nonacademic barriers to the success of Latino students focusing on sociocultural issues that influence…

This guide discusses incorporating leadership training and opportunities into parent involvement and family literacy programs. By doing this, parents can have a meaningful voice in social and educational issues, and educators can have a better understanding of the benefits of working with and supporting parent as equal partners in schools and…

Culturally informed health interventions for linguistic minorities are crucial in promoting optimal child development. "Mi Bebé y Yo" is a primary care group for Spanish-speaking, Latina/o caregivers and their babies during their first year. Group visits occur in conjunction with well-baby checks and are designed to support families with…

Despite a growing literature on the value of family involvement for students with disabilities, there are ongoing misunderstandings about the reasons why culturally and linguistically diverse families of students with disabilities might be less involved with their child at school than other families. This article describes a project conducted with…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest conducted this literature review to identify malleable factors that can be measured in K-12 settings and that predict students' postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) success (defined as enrolling in, persisting in, and completing a postsecondary STEM major or degree), particularly…

For too long, educators have held diminishing beliefs about Latino students' home life. Such beliefs are irrelevant except for the fact that students do not leave their culture at home; rather, home life is closely intertwined with their learning. Language and culture play a major role in students' learning and parents figure prominently in their…

This article asserts the necessity of a twenty-first century movement for achieving excellence with equity. For most of our nation's history, it was taken for granted that academic skill levels among some groups would be lower, on average, than for others. Indeed, a culture of White supremacy maintained a division of labor that relegated people of…

The purpose of this article is to describe an approach that can be used by schools to understand low income minority parents' goals for the education of their children and to design responsive strategies to support these goals. Focus groups of minority mothers with low income levels are conducted and the information collected is used by schools…