The author provides practical strategies for cultivating communication with Latino parents and including the Latino family in developing sustained academic improvement.

"Anyone involved in preservice training for future and present classroom teachers should read this book. Both the content and context of the book are practical, timely, and necessary as our country and classrooms become more diverse." Michele Dean, Principal Montalvo Elementary School, Ventura, CA Raise school attendance, reduce dropout rates, and improve academic performance of Latino students! Often marginalized by poverty, linguistic isolation, or prejudice, Latino students face many academic obstacles. And while research has shown that parental involvement plays a key role in academic achievement, most schools have failed to modify their parent involvement programs to address social and cultural realities of Latino families. Involving Latino Families in Schools provides tools and strategies for including Latino parents in developing sustained academic improvement. Sharing numerous first person success stories, author Concha Delgado Gaitan stresses three conditions of increased parental participation: connecting to families, sharing information with parents, and supporting continued parental involvement. Offering easily applied techniques for cultivating communication, this practical handbook examines Latino families and their educational aspirations for their children The communication systems needed between schools and Latino families How Latino families can assist their children at home Techniques to foster Latino parent involvement How to organize schoolwide parent involvement programs Through suggested activities, case examples, and vignettes, the author provides insights and instruction for planning, designing, and implementing parental participation programs that enhance the classroom curriculum and effectively engage Latino students. Designed primarily for elementary and secondary school principals and teachers, this innovative text is also an indispensable resource for district-level administrators.

This book provides guidance and resources to help teachers communicate and collaborate with the families of Latino English Language Learners (ELLs). Practical tips and tools, including reproducible form letters in English and Spanish, are provided to help teachers solicit valuable information about students from their families, extend families' knowledge of how U.S. schools operate, and provide families with ideas for helping students with their schoolwork at home.

Abstract: Latino families often face many irrepressible struggles that may hinder their engagement in their child's school. Family programs geared at Latinos demand culturally sensitive approaches and best practices in order to build effective and enduring pathways to increased parental involvement and optimal student academic success. The purpose of this project was to design a Latino family strengthening after school program, to identify potential funding sources, and complete a grant application to fund the program at a middle school in California whose population reflects predominately low income Latino students. The components of the program focus on family outreach, parent and child educational workshops, social gatherings with school staff and parents; and leadership development. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project. Implications for social work are explored.

Latino families are often characterized as uninvolved in the educational lives of their children because they are not typically involved in normative ways. In addition, educational institutions historically have marginalized Latino families by providing narrow, hegemonic definitions of the practice of family engagement in schooling. This study used qualitative research methods to explore Latino family engagement in a New Mexico middle school community. Using case study methods, this study captured: how Latino families are engaged in the Concilio initiative; how Latino families describe family engagement through their cultural lens; effective strategies that are being used to engage Latino families in education; barriers that impact the engagement of Latino families in education; and policy implications that can be gleaned from a deeper exploration of Latino family engagement in a middle school setting. An exploration of Latino family engagement at a New Mexico middle school site revealed five emergent themes: the role of social justice leadership in fostering Latino family engagement in schooling; the importance of family support programs as an effective family engagement strategy; the notion of "convivencia" and how informal family engagement strategies build relationships at a school site; how organizing and advocacy strategies can be an effective vehicle for school and community change; and the importance of role construction for Latino families to promote greater school-based engagement.

Parent involvement has shown to have a positive effect on student's academics and has a strong role in the healthy growth of student's social emotional development. There is an assumption that Latino families do not engage with their children. The reality is that Latino parents do care and are deeply interested in their child's education. The purpose of this project was to create a respectful and safe place where Latino families could come to learn about the education system and work together to create resources for their children. This project used Classroom Action Research to conduct two workshops that focused on engaging Latino parents in a discussion about language arts, math, and social emotional development. Parents created materials using every day items to work with their children at home. Resources focused on standards that were specific to Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten. This project clunded that parent workshops were an effective way to engage Latino parents in collaborative with the teacher and child. Parent workshops should be encouraged within districts and be culturally respectful.

The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive historical and contemporary view of the education of Latinos in the United States. It is unique in that it provides readers with accurate information that will deepen their understanding and knowledge about Latinos from preschool to higher education, as well as in special education, gifted education, and migrant and urban education. Topics such as bilingualism and teacher preparation are an integral part of this thorough and eloquent book. Among culturally and linguistically diverse groups in the United States, the Latino population is the largest and fastest growing. Thus, to prepare for the growing numbers of Latino children and to make the most of their education, educators, researchers, and policymakers must recognize and build on the invaluable resource represented by Latino students. The information provided is based on current research and practice in the field. Our school system continues to underestimate the cognitive and socioemotional potential of Latino students by its limited awareness and representation of the Latino cultural characteristics, social dynamics, interests and abilities, bilingualism, as well as confronting socioeconomic challenges and educational needs. This situation clearly demonstrates a need for a reformulation of educational practice at all grade levels and for the provision of accurate information to assist practitioners and researchers in their knowledge and practice.