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.

"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.

Parent involvement in the classroom is a challenge to acquire for communities that have not had positive experience with schools, specifically Latinos. The issues with overcoming the lack of Latino parental involvement can be addressed by educators with a focus on culture, andragogy and effective outreach. This project includes a set of workshops to reach out to Latino parents and help them understand schooling and learn how to support their child's learning at home. The workshops are designed with a focus on Latino culture (culturally relevant pedagogy), best practices for adult learning (andragogy) and effective instruction (Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). The project consists of five workshops: What are (Homework) Boundaries?, How to Make a Special Place to Do Homework, Better Communication Between Parent and Child, Math Support Strategies, and Getting Involved with the School. Each workshop has been developed to provide engaging activities that are supported by culture and language. The workshops focus on the importance of parent involvement, culture, and developing a relationship between parents, children, and teachers.

Hispanics and the Future of America presents details of the complex story of a population that varies in many dimensions, including national origin, immigration status, and generation. The papers in this volume draw on a wide variety of data sources to describe the contours of this population, from the perspectives of history, demography, geography, education, family, employment, economic well-being, health, and political engagement. They provide a rich source of information for researchers, policy makers, and others who want to better understand the fast-growing and diverse population that we call "Hispanic." The current period is a critical one for getting a better understanding of how Hispanics are being shaped by the U.S. experience. This will, in turn, affect the United States and the contours of the Hispanic future remain uncertain. The uncertainties include such issues as whether Hispanics, especially immigrants, improve their educational attainment and fluency in English and thereby improve their economic position; whether growing numbers of foreign-born Hispanics become citizens and achieve empowerment at the ballot box and through elected office; whether impending health problems are successfully averted; and whether Hispanics' geographic dispersal accelerates their spatial and social integration. The papers in this volume provide invaluable information to explore these issues.

"1. From "Americanization" to "Latinization" 2. "I Just Fell into It": Pathways into the Teaching Profession 3. Cultural Guardians: The Professional Missions of Latina Teachers 4. Co-ethnic Cultural Guardianship: Space, Race and Region 5. Bicultural Myths, Rifts and Shifts 6. Standardized Tests and Workplace Tensions."

Reaching Out to Latino Families of English Language Learners provides teachers with a wealth of tools and strategies for communicating with the parents of Latino English language learners and learning more about their communities.

This study examines the experiences of Latinx parents in a high school in north eastern Georgia as they try to navigate the linguistic and cultural barriers in place that prevented their gaining access to their children's education. The school is regionally located in part of the New Latino Diaspora (NLD) and has experienced significant increases in the Latinx student population. As such, the school was unaccustomed to considering the linguistic and cultural needs of Latinx parents as they attempted to navigate the educational system. Parental surveys, staff interviews, and interviews with Latinx parents were conducted to identify the needs of the Latinx parents as well as what the barriers to their being more involved in their children's schooling. Using this information the school was able to implement a series of initiatives throughout the school to address those barriers and create a more welcoming school environment for Latinx families. Examining the testimonios of the Latinx mothers who participated in this study allows us to see how they navigated the school system despite the linguistic and cultural barriers. They used their community and social resources to help their children achieve academically. As the Latinx population in areas of the NLD continue to grow, schools must find ways to engage Latinx parents and adapt to the needs of this continually increasing population.