College of Education
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Uncovering Typologies of Civically Engaged Latinx/a/o College Graduates(2020) Guzman, Amilcar; Cabrera, Alberto F; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examined how Latinx/a/o college graduates engage civically. Guided by Morton’s (1995) paradigms of service, Drezner’s (2018) philanthropic mirroring framework, and Moll et al.’s (1992) funds of knowledge, I investigated how Latinx/a/o college graduates engage civically in their communities and with their alma maters. Through an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, I found that Latinx/a/o college graduates vote, volunteer, advocate, donate money, serve as cultural and political resources, and run for elected office. I also identified five typologies, or classes, of civically engaged Latinx/a/o college graduates: Activistas, Mentores, Politicos, Votantes, and Indiferentes. This study sought to address analytical and methodological shortcomings in the existing literature on Latinx/a/os and how college graduates engage civically. Overall, this dissertation expands the knowledge of Latinx/a/os’ civic engagement. Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers all have a role to play in fostering and supporting Latinx/a/o college graduates’ civic participation. Moreover, Latinx/a/o college graduates have the potential to serve as change agents that contribute to society and encourage their families and communities to do the same.Item Home Literacy Activities in Latino Immigrant Families: Contributions to Toddlers’ Expressive and Receptive Language Skills(2016) Malin, Jenessa Laura; Cabrera, Natasha J; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The development of language is a critical component of early childhood, enabling children to communicate their wishes and desires, share thoughts, and build meaning through linguistic interactions with others. A wealth of research has highlighted the importance of children’s early home experiences in fostering language development. This literature emphasizes the importance of a stimulating and supportive home environment in which children are engaged in literacy activities such as reading, telling stories, or singing songs with their parents. This study examined the association between low-income Latino immigrant mothers’ and fathers’ home literacy activities and their children’s receptive and expressive language skills. It also examined the moderating influence of maternal (i.e., reading quality and language quality) and child (engagement during reading, interest in literacy activities) characteristics on this association. This study included observational mother-child reading interactions, child expressive and receptive language assessments, and mother- and father-reported survey data. Controlling for parental education, multiple regression analyses revealed a positive association between home literacy activities and children’s receptive and expressive language skills. The findings also revealed that mothers’ reading quality and children’s engagement during reading (for expressive language skills only) moderated this association. Findings from this study will help inform new interventions, programs, and policies that build on Latino families’ strengths.Item “Never Give up:” The Strengths and Strategies Used Among Undocumented College Students From Central America to Access and Persist in U.S. Higher Education(2015) Hernandez, Belkis Pamela; Espino, Michelle M.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and strategies that undocumented college students from Central America used to access and persist in United States higher education. A multiple-case study design was used to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews and document collection from ten persons residing in Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth conceptual framework, an analytical and methodological tool, was used to uncover assets used to navigate the higher education system. The findings revealed that participants activated all forms of capital, with cultural capital being the least activated yet necessary, to access and persist in college. Participants also activated most forms of capital together or consecutively in order to attain financial resources, information and social networks that facilitated college access. Participants successfully persisted because they continued to activate forms of capital, displayed a high sense of agency, and managed to sustain college educational goals despite challenges and other external factors. The relationships among forms of capital and federal, state, and institutional policy contexts, which positively influenced both college access and persistence were not illustrated in Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth framework. Therefore, this study presents a modified community cultural wealth framework, which includes these intersections and contexts. In the spirit of Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) and critical race theory (CRT), the participants share with other undocumented students suggestions on how to succeed in college. This study can contribute to the growing research of undocumented college students, and develop higher education policy and practice that intentionally consider undocumented college students’ strengths to successfully navigate the institution.Item THE NEW SOUTH: A CASE ANALYSIS OF LATINO STUDENTS ATTENDING A HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITY IN NORTH CAROLINA(2013) Mena, Salvador Bienvenido; Komives, Susan; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Latino students attending a historically Black university in North Carolina. The study was guided by the revised campus climate framework by Milem, Chang, and Antonio (2005). A case study methodological research design was used to explore the following two research questions: (a) What is the Latino student experience at an HBCU that is intentionally seeking to promote Latino student success? (b) How is the campus climate, as defined by Milem et al. (2005), experienced by Latino students at an HBCU? Individual interviews with 13 students, 3 faculty, and 2 staff members were conducted along with the examination of the case site (e.g., review of the institution's strategic plan). The study revealed five areas of focus for understanding and enhancing the Latino student HBCU experience: 1. The decision-making process by Latino students for enrolling at an HBCU; 2. Latino student acclimation to the HBCU campus environment; 3. The cultural dissonance experienced by Latino students in the HBCU setting; 4. The benefits of diversity derived from Latino student enrollment at an HBCU; and 5. Latino student engagement within the HBCU environment. Recommendations for future research and practice based on these five identified areas were made.Item The Developmental Niches of Young Children from Central Americna Immigrant Families: Links between Their Early Social Environments and Social Skills(2012) Denmark, Nicole Marie; Jones Harden, Brenda P; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)National studies reveal early gaps in the language and literacy skills of children from low-income Central American (CA) immigrant families, yet also indicate strengths in the social development of these children (Galindo & Fuller, 2010). Using the framework of the developmental niche, the aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore how cultural goals, the physical and social settings, and customs of childrearing conspire to affect the social skills of children from CA immigrant families. I sought to learn about the "developmental niches" of children from CA immigrant families by 1) exploring themes in mothers' goals for their children; 2) exploring the persons and activities available to children; and 3) exploring the types of activities that parents engage in with their children. The next goal was to analyze the quantitative connections between children's developmental niches and their social skills. Forty-eight mothers who had emigrated from a CA country and whose children were enrolled in Head Start classrooms participated in this study. Most children's early environments were characterized by mothers goals' for bien educado (e.g., proper comportment) and buenas relaciones (sociability, getting along with family), multi-family households, and free play with other children. Salient parenting activities included purposeful conversations, children's co- participation in household tasks, and "going out" as a family. These aspects of children's developmental niches were largely unrelated to maternal characteristics or child gender. Further, there were few relations between mothers' parenting goals, the persons present in the household and parenting activities. Mothers' and teachers' reports of children's social skills were unrelated. Parental participation in play, conversation, and household tasks were positive predictors of children's social cooperation according to mothers but not teachers. This study reveals a potential disconnect between skills and types of activities valued in children's homes versus at school. The findings also highlight the challenges that immigrant families face in structuring children's environments to be consistent with their childrearing norms and goals. Future research should explore parenting and education practices that help promote social skills valued in the multiple contexts of CA children's lives.Item The Lived Experience Of Latina/o Peer Mentees: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach(2012) Gomez Riquelme, Luis Angelo; Hultgren, Francine; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research is about the peer mentee experience of Latina/o students. For this purpose, a group of nine participants were selected, who were part of a peer mentoring program in a Mid-Atlantic public university. The experiences they shared were interpreted through the methodological lens of hermeneutic phenomenology. The purpose of this study is to begin filling in one of the voids in the mentoring practice, which is the experience of peer mentees, and what this study reveals is that the peer mentee experience is the result of loneliness and prejudice that Latina/o students are able to overcome when they have a good peer mentoring experience. This interpretation is done following Clark Moustakas' philosophy of being. Peer mentees receive guidance and help alleviating their solitude, which in this study is interpreted as being-with. Consequently, peer mentees find purpose and are reminded of the reason why they stay in college, which herein is interpreted through the existential concept of being-for. Finally, this study also reveals that being a peer mentee can help finding or making sense of being in college and recovering a sense of belonging, which is interpreted through the phenomenological concept of being-with. The recommendations of this study to improve this practice involve fostering community, creating a sense of belonging, and advocating for a pedagogical experience that is liberated of prejudices and assumptions about Latinas/os, in addition to continuing the support of peer mentoring.Item Socialization practices in low-income immigrants and their young children: A qualitative approach(2011) Aldoney Ramirez, Daniela; Cabrera, Natasha J.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the U.S., yet little is known about how these families socialize their children to function in the U.S. Based on ecocultural theory, this study utilized focus groups interviews with 28 parents to explore the socialization practices of low-income Latino immigrant parents with their young children. Findings from this study suggest that parents model their expectations/values according to environmental demands developing diverse strategies to combine what they view to be Latino and American values. Research results also indicate that participating parents cope with the challenges in socializing their children by being optimistic and highly investing time and resources on their children. This study provides a basis for generating hypotheses to be tested with larger datasets; identifying areas that policies and programs might develop to support effective parenting in Latino immigrant families; and, informing the development of culturally sensitive measures to evaluate Latino parenting.Item Addressing the Hispanic Dropout Crisis: Predicting the Educational Persistence of Mexican-Descent Students Using Demographic and Process Variables(2008-12-18) DiPaula, John Joseph; Lucas, Margaretha S; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT While there has been a concerted effort to close the achievement gap and decrease school dropout rates for more than 30 years, Hispanic students are still dropping out of school at two and a half times the rate of black students, four times the rate of white students and almost eight times the rate of Asian students (Kaufman, Alt & Chapman, 2002). The Hispanic dropout crisis has been recognized as a national problem and was addressed by the federal government through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, through its focus on closing the racial gap in graduation rates. Regrettably, data continues to suggest that this situation is not improving (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). A more thorough understanding of the relationship between race/ethnicity and educational persistence is necessary to help create policies and practices to increase Hispanic graduation rates and close the graduation gap. Investigating deeper into this issue of Hispanics drop out, census data disaggregated by national origin, reveal that there are strong differences between nationalities and that Mexicans have the lowest rate of educational attainment among all Hispanic groups (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). Due to the disparity in performance within the larger Hispanic population, this study will focus on the sub-group with the lowest educational attainment and highest drop out rate, Mexican youth. The purpose of this study is to investigate those input and process variables that may be influenced by school personnel in order to help increase Mexican-descent students' ability to persist in school toward graduation. The current study, in essence, will contribute to a better understanding of students' social support from adults at school (social capital) and the effect this has on students' educational expectations, attendance and persistence. The current study utilizes the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002/2004 (ELS:2002/2004) dataset sponsored by NCES.Item "I GO TO SCHOOL TO LEARN": ATTITUDES, STRESSORS, AND SUPPORTS IN THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG LATINO IMMIGRANT STUDENTS(2005-08-31) Obara, Elizabeth; Leone, Peter; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Immigrant children encounter various challenges involved in immigration, as well as cultural and language differences in school. These school experiences can lead to academic challenges, socioemotional difficulties, or special education referral. The present research assumed a developmental-ecological perspective to investigate school experiences and attitudes. This study explored the perceptions of a small group (n = 28) of recently immigrated 1st to 5th grade Latino children as ethnic and linguistic minorities in their schools. This mixed-methods investigation used the School Situation Survey (Helms & Gable, 1989) and a School Attitudes Interview (García Coll, et al., 2005) to explore student perceptions of school, the stress and supports they encounter, and attitudes towards schoolwork, classmates and teachers. Using a Family Background Survey completed by parents, contextual influences on student perceptions were also examined. Students had relatively low levels of stress and stress responses. Principal stressors for these students included teacher and peer interactions. School meal program participation (SES), special education, grade/age and length of residency were found to be significantly related to school stress and stress responses. Analysis did not show ESL instruction or parent variables as having a relationship with school stress, although limited English proficiency influenced students' dependency on friends, communication with teachers, and academic frustration. Students were generally positive about teachers, friends, learning, and school. Older students and students with longer U. S. residency had more negative attitudes towards teachers and school. Interview data revealed 3 themes: Expectations, Priorities: Learning, Behavior, and Performance, and Supportive Relationships. Implications for research, practice, policy and training are discussed, focusing on maintaining young students' positive aspirations, incorporating family support, and school awareness of immigrant students' needs. In hopes of understanding immigrant students' experiences in school and better addressing their needs, this research benefits both the field and practitioners in illustrating the specific viewpoints of young, 1st generation Latino students, and highlighting their strengths and needs in the U.S. school system.