Children who have at least one parent born outside the United States or U.S. territories presently make up almost one-quarter of the children in the country. Moreover, these children represent the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. child population. As of 2006, the majority of children of immigrants were Latino, with 41 percent of all child…

The purpose of this study was to help increase success for first-generation Latina students at Arizona State University by providing a group mentoring support experience during the spring semester of their sophomore year. Thirteen first-generation Latinas in their sophomore year were recruited from the Obama Scholars Program at Arizona State…

Traditional and current parental involvement programs can be challenging, debilitating and disenfranchising for African American and Latino school-parents. This qualitative study explores the issue of parental involvement, engagement and empowerment for African American and Latino parents. It provides an overview of hegemonic underpinnings,…

The U.S. health care system is currently facing one of its most significant social challenges in decades in terms of its ability to provide access to primary care services to the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance coverage in the recent economic recession. National statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau for 2009…

This article presents an interview with Juan Sepulveda. Sepulveda was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the position of Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics on May 19, 2009. In this capacity, Sepulveda is responsible for directing the efforts of the White House Initiative in…

In this investigation, relationships between teacher ethnicity and student ethnicity in Texas public middle schools were examined. Through the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System, publicly available data on all public middle schools in Texas for the 1999-2000 through 2009-2010 school years were downloaded. Statistically…

In this article, the author features a new multimedia, bilingual communications class called Borderzine. With an initial $15,000 seed grant from the Ford Foundation and soon afterward a four-year $400,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Borderzine is approaching its fifth anniversary with much to celebrate about its efforts…

Nationwide statistics show that English Learners in grades 6-12 are often among the lowest performing students in all academic areas and have some of the highest rates of dropout. Their academic deficiencies are usually attributed to their limited English language proficiency, often ignoring the social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems…

Mexican American adolescents have higher rates of externalizing problems than their peers from other ethnic and racial groups. To begin the process of understanding factors related to externalizing problems in this population, this study used the social development model (SDM) and prospective data across the transition to junior high school from…

Rapid Hispanic population growth represents a pronounced demographic transformation in many nonmetropolitan counties, particularly since 1990. Its considerable public policy implications stem largely from high proportions of new foreign-born residents. Despite the pressing need for information on new immigrants in nonmetro counties and a…

To examine the development of religious identity during the teenage years, adolescents (N = 477) from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds completed questionnaires in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades (10th grade age: M = 15.81, SD = 0.36). Results indicated that religious identity remained stable across high school whereas religious…

Purpose: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the pediatric population is increasing. Barriers, including the lack of consensus of a definition for metabolic syndrome and time constraints for the pediatrician, may limit the identification and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome in children. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the role…

Parental involvement in education is a key focus of current policies and programs aimed at improving the academic outcomes of students at risk for academic underachievement. This study examines six forms of parental involvement in education to determine which forms of involvement have the strongest relationships with youths' academic outcomes.…

Using standardized methods for multi-source surveillance, we calculated the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) among children born in a racially diverse region in 1994 or 1996 as 4.7/1000 live births. Children with ASD before age 9 were identified through chart abstraction at health-related sources; three-quarters were being served by…

Conceptualizing and measuring functional impairment related to childhood ADHD, particularly within the rapidly growing, yet underserved, Latino population, is an important area of research that is in its infancy in the field of psychology. The functional impairments related to academic achievement, social competence, and familial relations…