Involving Latino Families in Schools: Raising Student Achievement Through Home-School Partnerships / Edition 1

by Concha Delgado Gaitan

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761931386
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/12/2004
Series:	1-Off Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Concha Delgado Gaitan, Ph D, is an award-winning ethnographic researcher and professor of sociocultural studies in education. She received the George and Louise Spindler award for her contributions to the field of Anthropology and Education from the Council of Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association. Her early career as a teacher and school principal informs her later work as a practicing anthropologist in communities and professor at the University of California, Davis. Concha has also worked in the field of public health education in Latino communities, combining that interest with her dedication to issues of social justice and education. She is a national and international speaker as well as a consultant on the numerous topics that inspire her work.

Among her many scholarly publications are her books where she presents her work as an ethnographer working with disenfranchised families and communities toward their empowerment and extending practical lessons to educators: (1) The Power of Community, (2) Protean Literacy, (3) Crossing Cultural Borders, (4) Literacy for Empowerment, (5) School and Society, (6) Involving Latino Families in the School, (7) Building Culturally Responsive Classrooms, and this most current one (8) Creating a College Culture for Latino Students. In a different book, Prickly Cactus, she turns the lenses inward to look at the role of family and community in her life during a time of major health crisis. Concha works and lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband Dudley Thompson. For more information, please go to www.conchadelgadogaitan.com or contact Concha at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1. Life in Latino Families
Connecting
Sharing Information
Across Generations of Latinos
Staying Involved
Summary
2. Connecting Latino Parents to the Classroom
Understanding Parent Involvement
3. Communicating Across the Home-School Border
Informal Verbal Contacts With Parents
Sharing Information
Visiting Families
Focus Groups
Written Correspondence
Language at Meetings
Staying Involved
Summary
4. Instructing Parents to Teach at Home
Connecting
Sharing Information
Staying Involved
Mentoring Project
Summary
5. Involving Families in the Life of the School
Connecting
Sharing Information
Parents as Advocates
Home Experiences in the Classroom
Parent Volunteers in the School
Staying Involved
Summary
6. Preparing Latino Students for Higher Education
Connecting
Sharing Information
Summary
7. Designing Schoolwide Parent-Involvement Programs
Connecting
Sharing Information
Staying Involved
Summary
8. Forming School-Family-Community Partnerships
National Networking for Assisting Local Schools
Grassroots Organizing for Latino Parent Involvement
College Track Community Program
Summary
Educational and Cultural Informational and Support Resources
Cited and Suggested References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Provides a great basic understanding of Latino cultures and their impact on schooling, with suggestions that are easy to implement, and personal vignettes provided by principals, parents, teachers, community leaders, and Latino students. "

May/June 2006 Principal

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

"Provides a great basic understanding of Latino cultures and their impact on schooling, with suggestions that are easy to implement, and personal vignettes provided by principals, parents, teachers, community leaders, and Latino students. "

Principal