Latino Parent Involvement

One of the greatest indicators of student success is the involvement of parents in their child's education.  There is a broad range of parent involvement from very passive strategies, like showing encouragement to more engaged strategies, like assisting with homework and being actively involved in the PTA.  Moreover, there is evidence that parent mobilizing--based off of traditional community organizing models--have been effective in changing school, district and even statewide educational policies. 

Recent focus groups that my colleague and I conducted with Latino high school and college students suggest that Latino parents tend to be involved with their child's education in a more passive way.   Most of the responses we received from students indicate that parents are passively involved by showing encouragement to their students--meaning that parents give positive reinforcement when their children are performing well and give tough love to their children as a way of corrective action when they are not performing well.  When asked if (Latino) parents were providing help with homework or involved in a more engaged way the most typical response was "no."  So, what is the reason behind a general lack of engaged parent involvement?  The language barrier.

Most of the students we interviewed had monolingual, Spanish speaking parents that had difficulty interpreting homework assignments and correspondence sent home by the school. However, the most significant barrier to engaged parent involvement cited by students was the absence of Spanish speaking teachers and administrators at their schools.  One student suggested:  "My mom really would like to be involved at my school, but she has a hard time communicating with the teachers there.  They don't understand what she is saying, so she just stopped going (to the school)."  

Obviously, there are many other barriers to engaged parent involvement, such as stricter district-level school security measures; overwhelmed parents working 2-3 jobs to support their families; a failure of some Latino parents to learn English; and parental apathy.  However, the issue underscores the need to have more bilingual educators and administrators, specifically in schools with traditionally large populations of Latino students.  In line with President-elect Obama's plan at merit-based teacher pay, we need to look at providing incentives for bilingual educators and administrators to work in high-density Latino schools.  Even further, we need to promote bilingualism for incoming teachers entering our post-secondary institutions.  The Latino population in America is growing at an astounding rate.  This coupled with a global economy, places greater need for bilingual and multilingual workers.

So, hopefully we do not lose sight of the need for more bilingual educators as we seek to reform our public education system.  

    

Paving the Way for Future Generations

September 15th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month. Festivities will take place throughout the country and in our own great state of New Mexico to celebrate the people who helped pave the way for people like me. September 15th was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. They all declared independence in 1821. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively.

Have we come a long way? Absolutely. Do we still have a lot of work to do to improve the way Latinos live and work in this country? You bet. It is important however to take a moment to reflect on some of the great strides we’ve made. Cesar Chavez single-handedly began an entire movement to improve the plight of Latino workers. U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez of New Mexico was the first United States Senator of Hispanic origin. As for me, I will be thinking of these national leaders who helped shape our heritage and our lives in this country. In addition, I will be thinking of my own heroes in life, who taught me strength in faith and unity in family.


I will be thinking of my Grandma, who cared for us when we were sick by giving us “remedios” instead of the western medicine prescribed to us. I will think of the smell of fresh tortillas in her kitchen, her faith in God, and her ability to connect an entire family with tradition, faith and love. She will not appear in a history book, or in an internet google search, but she taught me how to keep my Mexican heritage and succeed in America. Be sure to take a moment to honor your heroes who helped pave the way for future generations.

Alicia M. Manzano is a member of the Hispanic Statement of Cooperation.  She is an expert in fund development and marketing with special emphasis in Latino marketing.