Engaging Latino Parents in Supporting College Pathways: Lessons From a College Access Program

Abstract

How can K-16 partnerships enlist Latino parents as informed allies in support of their children’s college planning? This article draws on data from 3 years of participant observation to show how a bilingual outreach program for parents at a diverse high school narrowed the information gap about college, enhanced family social networks, and challenged inequities. Latino families gained knowledge and confidence for interacting with institutions, communicating with their children, and easing pathways to college.

Parental Engagement and Contact in the Academic Lives of College Students

“…For example, first-generation college students report lower levels of parental encouragement to attend college, receive less support from parents during college, and have less knowledge about the campus environment than their counterparts (London, 1989;McCarron & Inkelas, 2006;Terenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996). Parents of Latino students are also perceived to be less supportive of the decision to attend college, even though several studies suggest that these parents do value education and express this value informally by emotionally and morally supporting their children' s educational and career aspirations, assisting their children in educational decision making, and stressing the importance of education (Auerbach, 2004(Auerbach, , 2007Ceja, 2006).…”

Family Lessons and Funds of Knowledge: College-Going Paths in Mexican American Families

“…This knowledge came from first-hand experiences as well as the experiences of extended family members. Unfortunately, these same types of families are often perceived by school administrators and teachers as uncommitted and detached from their children's school processes or as lacking college knowledge (Auerbach, 2004;Downs et al, 2008). The following examples illustrate how one form of funds of knowledge was preexisting college knowledge.…”

“…A range of research also illustrates the importance of parental involvement in outreach programs (Auerbach, 2004;Jun & Colyar, 2002;Tierney, 2002). Incorporating parents into outreach programs can be done in a variety of ways: through personalized information focusing on steps in the pathway to college; expansion of families' social networks related to college options to include educators, alumni, and families like themselves; reinforcement of parents' sense of self-efficacy; and gathering with other families for support and fellowship (Tierney & Auerbach, 2004).…”

“…This is of particular importance for the present study, as the outreach literature indicates that the earlier the outreach begins, the better. Outreach should begin no later than the upper elementary grades, because students begin forming college-going aspirations at early ages (Auerbach, 2004;Tierney, Colyar, & Corwin, 2003). Thus, findings and implications from the current study are significant as they address the need to incorporate families into outreach initiatives from a culturally relevant perspective, to begin outreach initiatives no later than elementary grades, and to extend the funds of knowledge approach beyond K-12 classrooms.…”

Variation Across Hispanic Immigrant Generations in Parent Social Capital, College-Aligned Actions, and Four-Year College Enrollment

“…We also recognize that ensuring more equitable outcomes for both immigrant and native Hispanic children may require a comprehensive effort to mobilize the social institutions outside of school that play a large role in Hispanic students' educational experiences (Auerbach, 2004;Ream, Ryan, & Espinoza, 2012). We find that immigrant Hispanic parents of first-generation youth seem especially likely to use resources accessed through informal relationships with other parents as opposed to more formal relationship networks that occur in the public sphere and with school personnel.…”