Search

Little is known about the experiences of school counselors in their role of disseminating college information to Latinx students. In this study, ten school counselors provided qualitative data which was then analyzed by the researchers for major themes. Themes highlighted the critical role of social capital: school counselors serve an overwhelming number of students, parental involvement is key, early intervention is crucial, parents and students have misperceptions about college, finances appear to be the largest road block to college access, and fear of leaving home function as a barrier for Latinx students. Findings revealed that school counselors in the study faced challenges of addressing inequality in college access, especially for Latinx first-generation students.

The primary aim of this study was to explore and understand Chinese American parents' language and literacy beliefs, perceptions, and practices with regard to their preschool-age children. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods study design, parents (seven mothers and one father) were recruited from a community center in a large southern city in the United States to participate in focus groups. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using a side-by-side approach to compare qualitative data from discussions in the focus groups with quantitative data from parents' responses to a questionnaire. Six themes emerged from the parent focus group data: (a) expectation of bilingual/trilingual child language ability and concern about the loss of heritage language; (b) strategies to support child learning and language development; (c) learning-related tools and resources; (d) parent expectations of schools with regard to child learning and literacy development; (e) preparing children for a competitive future; and (f) challenges with supporting child language growth and literacy development. Parents were very clear about their roles regarding their child's language development, with mothers and fathers taking on different roles depending on the learning situation and language in use. The quantitative data supported the qualitative findings. Directions for future research are suggested.

Research Findings: A social validity measure was used to examine 56 bilingual preschool teachers' perceptions and acceptability of an interactive shared book reading vocabulary intervention implemented in English with Spanish-speaking preschool children (N = 334) in a dual language program model. Social validity outcomes indicated that bilingual teachers believed the shared book reading vocabulary approach was effective and could be feasibly managed to expand preschool dual language learners' (DLLs) content vocabulary knowledge by building deep knowledge networks around the worlds of science and social studies even as students' English abilities were still developing. Researchers also found a significant positive association between teachers' social validity outcomes and DLLs' English vocabulary outcomes of taught words, warranting further research in this area. Practice or Policy: Teacher perceptions of intervention effectiveness and usability are important and may serve as a barometer for whether teachers may be willing to both adopt and persist with intensive practices when there is a benefit for young children acquiring academic content in a second language. Results suggest, however, that customized and more responsive PD may be especially important to support teachers' ability to facilitate analytical discussions using academic words when DLLs are in the beginning stage of English language production.

Acadience Reading (AR) is a screener for early detection of reading problems in elementary students. Limited research exists, however, on its technical adequacy for evaluation of English Learners (ELs). In this study, we tested the long-term predictive validity and diagnostic accuracies of AR and examined the differences between native English-speaking and EL students. A sample of 305 students (94 ELs, 31% of the sample) completed AR at three time points in kindergarten and the statewide reading test in third grade. Hierarchical regression models confirmed good long-term validity for AR with end of the school year scores outperforming the other two time-points and EL status along with ethnic background not playing a significant role. Findings also revealed that AR at the end of the school year provided moderate long-term diagnostic accuracy for students well below benchmark. Implications for research and practice as well as limitations of the study are discussed.

It is well documented that early social skills and inattention are linked to the development of children's emergent vocabulary skills; however, the existing literature primarily focuses on White, non-Latinx and/or African American children. Few studies have examined the relationships between these domains with Latinx dual language learners (DLLs) in preschool. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap by examining the association between social skills, inattention, and emergent English vocabulary skills in this understudied population. A secondary analysis of an existing data set investigating the effects of a shared book reading intervention on 274 preschool Latinx DLLs was used. Multilevel analyses indicated that children with higher English receptive vocabulary skills at the beginning of preschool had higher overall social skills and fewer inattention problems midway through preschool. Results also showed that children with higher overall mid-year social skills had higher expressive vocabulary skills at the end of preschool, and children with fewer mid-year inattention problems had higher receptive and expressive vocabulary skills at the end of preschool. These findings suggest that targeting emergent English vocabulary, social skills, and inattentive behaviors is important for academic and social development among preschool Latinx DLLs.

The present study investigated evidence of the construct validity of scores from the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS-3), which is a multi-informant assessment designed to measure the behavioral and emotional strengths of school-aged youth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the degree to which BERS-3 scores differed between students with school-identified emotional disturbance and students without disabilities. Two nationally representative samples were used in this study: (a) 1,575 students rated by teachers and (b) 793 youth who provided self-ratings. The results of multivariate multiple regression analyses supported the primary hypothesis that students with emotional disturbance would have lower scores on each of the five BERS-3 subscale scores compared to peers without disabilities. This finding held for both samples; however, differences between students with emotional disturbance and the peers without disabilities were substantially smaller for the youth self-ratings compared to teacher ratings. Implications for practice and directions for future research are also discussed.

Data from a focus group of nine Latina parents, specifically mothers from a South Texas border region known as the Rio Grande Valley, were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Grounded in the theory of social capital, the purpose of the study was to understand the perceptions and experiences of Latina parents related to accessing information and resources to aid their students in enrolling in postsecondary institutions. The study was an exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative one that used a naturalistic paradigm. Findings showed that Latina parents perceived gaining information and resources related to increasing their understanding of college readiness, college knowledge, and college access as challenging. In addition, findings indicate that despite challenges, the mothers did receive support along the way. As parents, they want to get their students not only to the college door but through the college door, declaring that their children will go to college. They recognize there are keys to helping guarantee access to college, and it is these keys that these mothers seek. Such findings are important because the national portrait of college enrollment and attainment of college degrees shows continuing inequalities based on class, race/ethnicity, and income, especially for Latina/o first-generation students. Yet, few studies have considered the perceptions and experiences of Latina/o parents related to accessing information and resources to support their students when preparing for, applying to, and enrolling in postsecondary institutions. [For the full text grantee submission, see ED577330.]

This study examined school psychology faculty beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions regarding the status of graduate training in evidence-based assessment and intervention. The perspectives of a national sample of faculty in the U.S. were obtained through an online survey. A qualitative examination of faculty responses provided an understanding of the current state of instruction and dissemination of evidence-based assessment (EBA) and evidence-based intervention (EBI) in school psychology training programs. Four themes emerged from a content analysis of evidence reflecting faculty perspectives about EBAs and EBIs including barriers, facilitators, courses in EBI/EBAs, and supports for EBI/EBA implementation. Faculty provided 991 barrier-oriented comments compared to 276 support-oriented comments. The findings of this study provide insight into faculty notions about the status of evidence-based intervention and assessment in the training of school psychologists, as well as ways to overcome barriers and support a shift toward implementation science in the field.

A qualitative study with Latina/o high school students was conducted to understand their experiences obtaining information about going to college. The following themes emerged: students encountered difficulty meeting with the counselors and obtaining information; students had little idea of where to start looking for information about going to college; and little idea about the world of work. Implications for research and practice are presented to provide insight into the experiences of Latina/o students and to suggest changes needed to extend the possibilities of achieving the goal of college enrollment and success for Latina/o students.

Research Findings: This study examined Mexican caretaker roles, beliefs, and practices around their child's language and literacy development. Twenty-six parents in three preschools representing three socioeconomic strata located in Querétaro City, México completed questionnaires and participated in focus groups. We used convergent parallel mixed methods to analyze and compare parent questionnaire quantitative data and qualitative focus group data with a grounded theory approach to identify focus group discussion themes. Four themes were emerged: (a) Goals and expectations regarding reading and socioemotional development, (b) Perceptions and beliefs about children's oral and written language, (c) Caretaker's perceived role in children's language and literacy development, and (d) Home and community learning-related resources and practices. Findings highlighted that Mexican parents highly value supporting their children's education both socioemotionally and through engagement in literacy routines--evidence of duality in the "educacíón" value among native Mexican families. These literacy routines were complementary and responsive to teacher classroom instruction. Practice or Policy: Understanding how Latino families instantiate literacy practices to respond to American schooling expectations may be a way to address home-school discontinuities that often reflect lack of familiarity with the U.S. educational system.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced more than 50 million students and their families to adapt to remote schooling. Most disrupted were communities of color, who faced multiple and overlapping inequalities in digital and equipment access, exposing and exacerbating existing disparities. Conducted in a small rural school district, this study surveyed the experiences of rural Spanish-speaking Latino caregivers. A total of 104 caregivers responded to a survey assessing caregiver digital literacy and access, school support, caregiver-teacher relationship and communication, and caregiver values, expectations, and teaching efficacy. Findings highlighted wide disparities in digital access and availability of equipment or devices compared to recent reports of more affluent White caregivers. Findings also highlighted that strong caregiver-teacher relationships were important for helping caregivers to navigate children's instruction during remote instruction. While student learning losses have yet to be fully assessed, hints at the full impact of school closures for rural linguistically and culturally diverse families are available from other countries, and they suggest that learning losses will be much greater for children from disadvantaged families than the population at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review had three aims: (a) examine the relationship between self-efficacy (SE) and academic performance (AP) in Latina/o students, (b) identify the types of measures of SE and AP that have been used, and (c) identify the differences between global and specific measures of SE in predicting academic performance in Latina/o students. Twenty-seven articles were included in the analysis. Major findings included the following: (a) significant and positive relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance in Latina/o students, at all educational levels, and through different types of measurements of self-efficacy and academic performance; (b) particular performance domains or content, or task-specific variables, were more favorable in the examination of the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance than global domains; (c) Latina/o is not a homogeneous group; therefore, acculturation process, immigration status, family' experience on higher education, affective variables, and parents' and teachers' support were also factors that significantly correlated with Latina/os' academic achievement.

Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281 Spanish-speaking DLLs from their classrooms at the class level to either a content-enriched interactive book-reading intervention or a thematic content-related vocabulary-only condition. Screened using the preLAS®, the DLLs were selected for the study based on their scores at the prefunctional and beginning levels of English proficiency. Intervention and comparison bilingual teachers implemented the assigned instructional approach in small groups, for 20 min daily, for 18 weeks. Based on the results of multilevel models, findings indicated pre- to posttest growth on taught words for each instructional condition, with no significant effects on standardized English language measures. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that preschool DLL children benefit from the systematic use of interactive content-enriched shared book-reading vocabulary instruction or direct teaching of content vocabulary when instruction integrates language interaction opportunities with higher cognitive talk and scaffolds. The vocabulary-only routine is a cost-effective approach but may not replace the broader benefits of reading books.

This study evaluated the ability of the kindergarten and first grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), measures of early literacy development, to discriminate among low average, average, and above average students considered at risk emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) on the Total Reading cluster of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (WRMT-R). The DIBELS consisted of two measures of phonological awareness, one measure of alphabet knowledge, one measure of the alphabetic principle, and one measure of oral reading fluency with connected text. Results indicated that first grade DIBELS differentiated among reading groups and classification accuracy was statistically better than chance. With the exception of alphabet knowledge, DIBELS did not significantly differentiate among the fall kindergarten groups. Oral reading fluency and alphabet knowledge had the greatest discriminating power for first graders. These findings extended the usefulness of the first grade DIBELS to populations other than general education students. Implications for the use and application of DIBELS to non-general education populations are discussed along with caveats for kindergarten discriminant power of the DIBELS. (Contains 7 tables.)

Emotional/behavioral disturbance (EBD) is characterized by a range of behaviors that adversely affect a child's academic performance and cannot be explained by other sensory or health impairments. Although research has clearly demonstrated that children and youth with EBD tend to exhibit high rates of problem behavior, research on the characteristics of their academic performance has been less clear. This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of the academic status of students with EBD. The overall effect size was -.64, which indicated that students with EBD had significant deficits in academic achievement. An examination of moderators (subject area, setting, and age) indicated that students with EBD performed at a significantly lower level than did students without disabilities across academic subjects and settings; greater deficits were not observed in older students with EBD (i.e., those more than 12 years old), as compared to younger students. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.

This study was part of a larger three-year investigation of the effectiveness of a small-group, content-focused (science, social studies) preschool shared book reading vocabulary intervention implemented with Spanish-speaking emergent bilinguals enrolled in a one-way dual-language bilingual program. A subset of bilingual preschool teachers (N = 23), representing treatment teachers from each of the three intervention years, was observed to understand the sustainability of the curricular approach and materials one, two, and three years post-intervention when instructional guidance was no longer provided by the research team. Findings from post-intervention observations and teacher self-reports suggest that teachers continued to implement the intervention approach and materials on some level but the explicit rich vocabulary instruction during the book reading experience was observed less the further teachers were out of the intervention. Implications for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation examined 460 school psychology trainers' attitudes and beliefs about the conditions for the education and training of evidence-based practices (i.e., assessments and interventions) in training programs in the United States and Canada using an online survey. Trainer attitudes and beliefs about education and training in evidence-based practices were measured using a 24-item five-point Likert scale. Overall, trainers had positive views of evidence-based practices, as well as program and organizational support for such training. However, trainers rated the education and training of evidence-based assessments more favorably than evidence-based interventions. In general, trainer characteristics nor program accreditation status, model, or type of degree offered were found to influence trainers' perceptions about evidence-based practices. However, trainers with prior experience teaching evidence-based intervention courses were found to have more supportive views of evidence-based assessments and interventions than those without such experience. Implications for future training and school practice are discussed.

This article bridges research to practice by summarizing an interactive content-enriched shared book reading approach that Spanish-speaking parents of preschool-age children can easily use in the home to accelerate content vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. The approach was implemented in preschool classrooms using a transitional bilingual education model in Central Texas and in a Saturday Spanish heritage language school in the Midwestern United States. Spanish-speaking emergent bilingual children from both lower and higher socioeconomic status backgrounds learned content-related vocabulary via parent-child discussions of Spanish storybooks and informational texts organized by compelling science and social studies themes and topics. The authors provide recommendations for how teachers can support Spanish-speaking parents' ability to develop informal knowledge-building experiences through home-based interactive book discussions in Spanish.

Research Findings: This study investigated the association between Mexican American maternal education and socioeconomic status (SES) and child vocabulary as mediated by parental reading beliefs, home literacy environment (HLE), and parent-child shared reading frequency. As part of a larger study, maternal reports of education level, SES, HLE, and reading beliefs along with child expressive and receptive vocabulary were collected for 252 mothers and their preschool children from 2 demographically similar school districts in 1 county. Correlations were moderate and positive, with higher levels of maternal education related to family income, HLE, book availability, and children's expressive and receptive vocabulary. Consistent with long-standing evidence, maternal education and SES were predictors of children's vocabulary, albeit indirectly through maternal reading beliefs, HLE, and reading frequency. Practice or Policy: Findings extend current knowledge about specific pathways through which social class variables impact children's language. Policy implications, directions for future research, and study limitations are noted.