Education Commons^™

Theorizing A Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution (C-Hsi) Identity Through Latinx Theological Lenses Of Lo Cotidiano And Traditioning, Gina A. Garcia, John Decostanza Jr, Jaqueline Romo

Journal of Catholic Education

As the students entering U.S. colleges and universities become increasingly diverse, the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI's) continues to increase. Catholic colleges and universities, similarly, are seeing an increase in student diversity on campus, with an emergence of Catholic HSIs as well. As the number of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States that are HSI-eligible increases they must grapple with what it means to be both Catholic and Hispanic-serving. The purpose of this article is to propose a U.S. Catholic HSI (C- HSI) identity that brings together the extensive literatures on Catholic identity and HSI identity through the …

Latino Family Engagement In A Network Of Catholic Bilingual Schools, Gabrielle Oliveira, Eunhye Cho, Olivia Barbieri

Journal of Catholic Education

In this article, we examine how a Network of Catholic Bilingual Schools (NCBS) serves Latino populations by examining the leadership’s narratives of the school services and outreach. By employing a survey with 16 principals in the NCBS, we argue that the rate of engagement is similar between Latino and non-Latino parents, although the nature of the activities varied. Despite the long-held belief that Latino parents are less likely to participate in schooling than non-Latino parents, we found that Latino parents committed their participation in schools across cultural, linguistic, or religious activities. We highlight how principals acknowledge and describe Latino families’ …

Latino And Latina Urban Elementary Principals’ Entry Into Educational Administration, José Montaño

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

As school enrollments across the United States include increasing numbers of students of color, the number of administrators of color remains disproportionate. In California school districts, where a large percentage of students are Latino and Latina, Latino and Latina principals remain rare. While studies have suggested why Latinos and Latinas do not enter educational leadership, fewer have examined why they do elect to enter the field. This ethnographic exploratory study examines factors that led Latino and Latina educators to enter administrative leadership preparation programs with the goal of becoming school principals. The sample includes interviews with seven Latino and Latina …

The Triage Principal: An Autoethnographic Tale Of Leadership In A Catholic Turnaround School, Corena Marasco

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Catholic schools are in need of innovative change. The problem lies in how to construct the elements of change to create viability for a school in the face of rapid declining enrollment. Responding to this type of environment as an educational leader requires qualities and characteristics similar to those of first responders in a medical emergency, a term I coined as the triage principal. This autoethnographic research study was designed to answer three research questions:

1. As a new principal at Michael, the Archangel School (MAS), a Catholic school in danger of closing, what challenges did I experience?

2. As …

Resiliency Of Latino High School Students: The Impact Of External And Internal Factors, Diana Marie Lucero

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated factors promoting academic resiliency within Latino students at an urban high school in the Los Angeles area. The criteria of “on-track” to graduate served as the operational definition of academic resilience. A total of 92 students completed the survey. Of these, 57 were on-track to graduate and 35 students were “not on-track” to graduate. The California Healthy Kids Survey: Resiliency & Youth Development Module (WestEd, 2008a) was the instrument employed to obtain quantitative data using three external protective factors (caring relationships, high expectations, and meaningful participation) and three internal protective factors (social competence, autonomy and sense of …

“This Is Our Life. We Can’T Drive Home.” An Analysis Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy As Perceived By Elementary Teachers, Students And Families In An Urban Charter School, Elaine Azalia Mcneil-Girmai

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

As schools have become more diverse ethnically and linguistically, the likelihood of cultural mismatches among students, families, and teachers has increased (Frank, 1999). Culturally relevant pedagogy has at its core the understanding that incorporating students‘ culture into the practices of the school and the classroom through culturally relevant curriculum is likely to improve student cooperation, inspire a greater understanding of the educational program, and increase academic outcomes (Brown, 2004). These pedagogies have the potential to be a vital tool toward closing the achievement gap, yet the practices associated with them are in danger of meeting the same fate as multicultural …

Factors Impacting Persistence For African-American And Latino Community College Students, Amy Radovčić

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Persistence of African-American and Latino community college students has lagged behind other ethnic groups. The longitudinal study covered three years that included four semesters. Data from aggregated records of a community college in Southern California were analyzed to gain better understanding of factors that could explain varying rates of persistence. The data represented 609 African-American and Latino community college students who enrolled for the first-time in the fall 2006 semester. In addition to descriptive analysis, the data were subjected to t-tests, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression.

These findings revealed that access to a college counselor (p < .01) and offers of financial aid assistance (p < .01) and services from EOPS (p < .05) significantly and positively influenced persistence. The impact of age and SES differed by ethnicity. Older African-American students (p < .01) and younger Latino students (p < .01) were more likely to persist. Socioeconomic status (p < .01) was found to significantly influence persistence for African-American students. SES was not found to be significant in Latino community college student persistence. Age, gender, and completing a personal development course did not significantly influence African-American or Latino community college student persistence.

The findings can help …

Latino Middle School Students Read To Learn Critical Literacy: Social Justice Through Action Research, Jennifer Grenardo

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored if changes in the reading curriculum, specifically implementation of critical literacy approaches that acknowledge bicultural students, increase student learning as perceived by teachers and students in a Catholic elementary school, where students have been chronically performing at the lowest level in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. By using critical pedagogy (Darder, 1991; Freire, 1970; Giroux, 1983; Macedo, 1994; McLaren, 1988) as a theoretical framework, this action research project investigated the effective elements of critical literacy (Cadiero-Kaplan, 2004; Shor & Pari, 1999) that promote academic learning for Latino middle school students in a low-income Catholic elementary …