The study was designed to provide information on Kentucky Hispanic school board members. The data was obtained from Kentucky school superintendents or their designees in the 174 public school districts through a survey mailed in the spring, 2009. The survey was mailed to Kentucky Superintendents on March 12, 2009. The follow-up survey was mailed…

This study focused on investigating whether the teachers' geographical distribution influences their attitudes towards their students' use of code switching. The study was guided by the following research question: Are there differences between teachers' opinions of the north elementary schools and teachers' opinions of the south elementary…

Despite the exponential growth of Latinos during the past decade and an increase in higher education participation, there continues to be a gap in degree attainment compared to other ethnic and racial groups in this country. This gap is even greater for low-income Latino students seeking a degree in STEM fields. A proposed solution for this gap…

This study is about Hispanic, immigrant, low-income students who have graduated from high school college ready and the contexts from which they achieved such success. Few studies exist relative to immigrant, Hispanic student college readiness. This research hopes to provide insight into how institutional, peer and family culture helped to produce…

This study explores the perception of belonging by Latino undergraduate students attending a predominantly White private university by documenting, in their "own voices," the extent of their participation in the social and academic life of the campus. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of…

This qualitative case study focuses on the early college experiences of five Latina/o urban-schooled students who graduated in the top 10% of their high school class, guaranteeing them admission into a prestigious four year state university. Although all participated in transition initiatives, and initially felt equipped to participate in…

During the past century, American society has made enormous strides in promoting equality and diminishing prejudice among different racial and ethnic groups (Dovidio et al. 2002). Indeed, many believe the election of the first Black president, Barack Obama, marked the beginning of a post-racial America. While progress is undeniable, America is by…

Associations between suicidal behavior and social-ecological variables were examined among 1,618 Latina high school students (mean age = 15) from the nationally representative Add Health sample (68% were U.S.-born). Ideations were associated with having a suicidal friend, lower perceived father support, and overall parental caring. Attempts were…

Parents' socialization goals are important for cultural transmission across generations, but whether such goals vary by ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and change over children's first years of life remains unexamined. In Study 1, African-American, Dominican immigrant, and Mexican immigrant mothers (N = 300) reported on the qualities deemed…

As a child, the author saw that art held a daily purpose for her family. It inspired her grandmother to worship and communicate to God and her many saints. This art uplifted them with spiritual, miraculous images that taught them morals based on the narratives of the image. The first work of art she owned was a painting given to her by her Tia…

This study uses an interdisciplinary framework inspired by Ranciere (1991, 2009, 2010) ideas such as "intellectual equality," "redistribution of the sensible," and "aesthetic heterogenesis" to analyze the production of video-narratives of self and place within a group of Latino eight-year-olds attending public school…

Language brokering (LB) is the act of translating and interpreting within immigrant families by children and adolescents for their parents, other family members, and other adults. Although LB is a common phenomenon among immigrant families in the United States, research regarding its impact on immigrant families mainly focuses on the experiences…

Understanding youth's perceptions of their civic skills is important for enriching the lives of youth as well as society. This study explored the relationship between civic attitudes, leadership skills, and ethnic identity in Northwest Georgia schools using two measures, the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ) and the Multigroup Ethnic…

Roland S. Persson's (2012a) article addresses a concern that many educators have stressed in their theoretical models, namely the importance of the interaction between the individual and the environment, and the impact of culture on not only values and beliefs, but on behaviour. As Persson (2012a) points out these models all have merit, but he…

This study examined classroom-level contributors to an acceptance of diversity in publicly supported pre-kindergarten classrooms across 11 states. Classroom composition, process quality, and teacher characteristics were examined as predictors of diversity-promoting practices as measured by the ECERS-R, acceptance of diversity construct. Findings…