EDO-CS-00-09 December 2000
People of Hispanic origin represent one of the largest minority groups in the
United States. For Hispanic students, success in school is a complex process,
dependent on both the actions of parents and teachers separately and also on
their interactions (Paratore et al. 1999).
The purpose of this digest is to provide an overview of:
Hispanic parents are frequently unaware of practices essential to helping their children develop academic skills. They may be confused about what the school expects from their children and feel uncertain about how to help their children. Several recent studies address the effects of cultural differences, parents' lack of self-esteem, and a host of misconceptions, discussed below.
Low Self-esteem
Recent studies by Hughes et al. (1999), Kelty (1997),
and Paratore (1999) explore reasons why some Hispanic parents are hindered by
low self-esteem. They found that some parents have been unsuccessful in school,
and therefore the entire school experience causes anxiety. Some feel that because
of the language barrier, they are powerless to make a difference in their children's
education. And some view teachers as the experts and do not feel comfortable
questioning them.
Culture Shock
The process of acculturation, internalizing a host culture's
identity, is more acute for some immigrants than others. Lambourne and Zinn
(1993) found immigrant families may go through psychological adaptations such
as culture shock as they encounter a new culture. Kelty (1997) found that because
the Hispanic culture emphasizes obedience and respect for adult authority, many
parents are more likely to communicate with their children in a direct style
than to engage their curiosity by talking with them and reading to them. Consequently,
the parents fail to lay a strong foundation for building academic skills.
Misconceptions
Although it is true that culture shock and low self-esteem play an important
part in understanding the problems Hispanic parents face, the literature suggest
that many other factors are also at work. Moles (1993) reported that in a recent
national survey of teachers, Hispanic parents' lack of interest and support
was the most frequently cited educational problem. However, according to Snow
(1991) "·even children with nurturing home literacy environments did poorly
in reading if school practices were inadequate."
Paratore et al. (1999) found evidence suggesting that despite limited English proficiency, low levels of education, and few economic resources, when parents were provided opportunities to learn from and collaborate with teachers, all were willing and able to do so consistently and effectively. Yet in some cases children still failed.
Kelty (1997) found evidence that Spanish speaking parents are com-fortable with parent conferences, interactive workshops and, to an extent, home visits. These findings contradict previous research indicat-ing that parent involvement programs do not reach Hispanic parents.
Moreno and Lopez (1999) found the relationship between accultura-tion level and personal, contextual, and involvement factors to be complex. They found that although less acculturated Hispanic parents reported less knowledge about school activities and more barriers to involvement, they had high levels of perceived efficacy relevant to parent involvement, educational expectations and spousal support.
The study by Paratore et al. (1999), conducted in conjunction with their Intergenerational Literacy Project, found that in all the Latino families studied, the practice of family literacy was in an important and integral part of family life long before parents joined the project. These researchers concluded that "·looking to family literacy interventions as the primary solution to the problems of school failure for many Latino children is to dismiss the complexity of challenges they face both inside and outside of school."
Two ESL teachers looked at parent involvement and culture traits of Hispanics to better incorporate Hispanic families into the school system. The project helped teachers realize that cultural differences effect the ways in which students and parents react to the school system. (Rodgers and Lyon 1999)
Short (1998) reports that eighteen states, most with high rates of immigration, have developed Newcomer Programs for students who are recent arrivals to the U.S. and have limited English proficiency. Forty three percent of the programs offer classes to orient parents to the United States and 63% offer adults ESL classes either through the program or the school district.
Parents of prekindergarten students in one public school in Texas received instructions in developing a portfolio of their child's literacy development which reflected literacy behavior at home.
The parent/child workshop offers parents specific ways to help their children at home and allows parents to be active participants in their children's education. (Williams and Lundsteen 1997)
The Intergenerational Literacy Project began in 1993 and is now in its sixth year. This project is one component of a partnership between a local university and an urban community where the majority of families are new immigrants to the United States. The project has three goals:
Project FLAME (Family Literacy: Apprendiendo, Mejorando, Educando [Learning, Improving, Educating]) is a family literacy program developed in 1989 by Rodriguez-Brown and Shanahan to train parents in different strategies to help their children's literacy learning at home. The objectives of this program are to (1) increase the ability of Hispanic parents to provide literacy opportunities for their children; (2) increase parents' ability to act as positive role models; (3) improve the Hispanic parents' skills so that they can more effectively initiate, encourage, support, and extend their children's literacy learning, and (4) increase and improve relationships between Hispanic families and the schools. (Rodriguez-Brown et al. 1999)
AVANCE is a preschool parenting program in San Antonio that incorporates family culture to achieve significant success with recent and second-generation Mexican-immigrant families. The program targets low-income mothers with young children. Infants and toddlers accompany their mothers to the program and are placed in day care that provides developmental and educational activities. (Romo 1999)
Home Literacy Activities: Perceptions and Practices of Hispanic Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities (Hughes et al. 1999) investigated Hispanic parents' perceptions and practices with respect to home reading activities. Parents in this study reported using a wide variety of reading activities on a regular basis, but experienced frustration in helping their children at home.
Involving Hispanic Parents in Improving Educational Opportunities for Their Children (Sosa 1996) discusses logistical barriers such as time, money, safety and child care; attitudinal barriers such as disagree-ments, dissatisfaction and communication problems; and expectations barriers as forces which hinder involvement of migrant/immigrant parents. This study provides alternative ways to involve these parents as well as strategies to cultivate more successful experiences.
Exploring Home-School Connections: A Family Literacy Perspective on Improving Urban Schools (Nistler and Maiers 1999) contributes an understanding of what constitutes family literacy and discusses family literacy programs in terms of three very distinct categories of approaches: Parent Involvement Programs, Intergenerational Programs, and Research on Naturally Occurring Family Literacy programs.
An Examination of Hispanic Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Programs (Kelty 1997) developed a bilingual survey to register the feelings of parents toward involvement in their children's preschool and kindergarten and to determine the unique needs of parents during interactions with the schools. The survey was tested with 50 parents, and the results were tabulated to determine differences between the feelings of Hispanic and non-Hispanic parents.
Latina Mothers' Involvement in their Children's Schooling: The Role of Maternal Education and Acculturation (Moreno and Lopez 1999) investigated the influence of language proficiency and family socio-economic status on Latina mothers' involvement in their children's schooling. This study specifically investigated the influence of sociocultural factors on (1) personal and psychological factors, (2) contextual factors, and (3) levels of involvement.
Hughes, M. T. Schumm, J.S., Vaughn, S. (1999). Home literacy activities: perceptions
and practices of Hispanic parents of children with learning disabilities. In
Learning Disabilities Quarterly 22 (3), 224-35.
Kelty, J. M. (1997). An examination
of Hispanic parent involvement in early childhood programs.
Lambourne, K., and
Zinn, M. B. (1993). Education, Race, and Family: Issues for the 1990s. East
Lansing, MI : Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University
Moles,
O.C. (1993) Collaboration between schools and disadvantaged parents. In.F. Chavkin
(Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 21-53). Albany, NY:
State University of New York Press.
Moreno, R. P. and Lopez, J. A. (l999). Latina
mothers' involvement in their children's schooling: The role of maternal education
and acculturation. Julian Samora Research Institute. Working Paper Series. http://jsri.msu.edu/RandS/research/wps/wp44.html
Nistler, R.J. and Maiers, A. (1999). Exploring home-school connections: A family
literacy perspective on improving urban schools. In Education and Urban Society,
32 (1) 2-17.
Paratore, J.B., Melzi, G., & Krol-Sinclair, B. (1999). What should
we expect of family literacy? Experiences of Latino children whose parents participated
in an Intergenerational Literacy Project.
Rodgers, J., and Lyon, L. (1999).
Hispanic families in our school: knowing the roots of our growing branches.
Rodriguez-Brown, F.V., Li,-Ran-Fen, Albom, J.B. (1999). Hispanic parents' awareness
and use of literacy-rich environments at home and in the community. In Education
and Urban Society, 32 (1) 41-58.
Romo, H. (1999). Reaching out: best practices
for educating Mexican- origin children and youth. ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
Education and Small Schools, Charleston, WV.
Short, D.J. (1998). Secondary newcomer
program: helping recent immigrants prepare for school success. ERIC Clearinghouse
on Language and Linguistics: Center for Applied Linguistics http://aelvis.ael.org/eric/digests/edofl986.htm
Snow, C.E., Barnes, W.S., Chandler, J., Goodman, I.R., & Hemphill, L. (1991)
Unfilfilled expectations: Home and school influences on literacy. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Sosa, A.S. (1996) Involving Hispanic parents in
improving educational opportunities for their children. The University of Texas
at San Antonio http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/pathways/newimmigrant/parents.htm
Williams,
P., and Lundsteen, S.W. (1997). Home literacy portfolios: cooperative tools
for assessing parents' involvement in their prekindergarten child's literacy
development.
Digest #158 is EDO-CS-00-09 and was published in December 2000 by
the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication, 2805 E 10th Street,
Bloomington, IN 47408-2698, Telephone (812) 855-5847 or (800) 759-4723. ERIC Digests
are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced. Additional copies may be
ordered by contacting the ERIC Document Reproduction Service at (800) 443-3742.
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0028. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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