Beyond Cultural Deficit Views of Low-Income Mexican-Descent Families: Exploring Variations in High School Students’ and Parents’ Aspirations and Expectations, Educational Involvement Practices, and College Knowledge Dolores DeHaro Mena University of California, Santa Cruz July 13, 2005

Overview Overarching question Three complementary theoretical perspectives Four research questions Methods Results and discussion Research, policy, and practice implications

Overarching Question Why are Mexican-descent students not graduating from high school and attending college at the rates European American students are? Three issues that have been used to address Mexican-descent students’ low academic achievement are: –Low parent and student aspirations and expectations –Low parental involvement, particularly at school –Low knowledge of the U.S. schooling system, particularly college knowledge

Three Theoretical Perspectives Sociocultural theories –Families goals (e.g., aspirations and expectations), values, beliefs, and knowledge systems vary and change to adapt to families’ realities (Goldenberg, Gallimore, Reese, & Garnier, 2001; Rogoff, 2003; Vygotsky, 1978) –Acknowledge “non-traditional” forms of parental involvement practices (e.g.,consejos) and practices that occur outside the school (e.g., at churches) Bridging Multiple Worlds theory –Combines qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how youth actively navigate challenges and resources across their “worlds” (Cooper, 1999) –Adds a developmental perspective that traces students’ academic, career, and college identity pathways from the preschool years through adulthood Social Capital theories –Point to how social class structure is reproduced from one generation to the next (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988) –Parents lack knowledge: Tornatsky et al. (2002) - low-income and 1st-generation Mexican-decent parents had less college knowledge than higher-income and 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican-descent parents –More recent perspectives suggest low-income students can obtain resources from others besides parents (e.g., peers) (Stanton-Salazar, 2004)

Research Questions RQ1: Do Mexican-descent parents’ and students’ educational and career aspirations and expectations decline from junior high to high school? RQ2: What educational practices are Mexican-descent parents involved in within the school, home, and community contexts? RQ3: What college knowledge do Mexican-descent 12th grade students and their parents have? RQ4: What is the relation between parents’ and students’ educational and career aspirations and expectations, parents’ educational involvement practices, parents’ and students’ college knowledge and students’ college-prep grades?

Methods Participants - 18 Mexican-descent 12th graders and their parents selected from larger sample Measures - Parent and student semi-structured home interviews - Demographics - Educational and career aspirations and expectations - Parent involvement at: - School - 13 items (  =.78) - Home - 13 items (  =.69) - Community - 16 items (  =.59) - College knowledge (Tornasky, Cutler, & Lee, 2002) - High school transcripts - College-prep grades

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analyses Performed descriptive statistics on demographic questions Conducted inductive coding with educational and career aspirations and expectations questions (Cohen’s Kappas =.90 and.86) Performed inferential statistics –Paired samples t-tests –Pearson and Spearman-Ranked correlations Used Yin’s (2003) pattern matching approach to compare predictions for “high-” and “low-achieving” students based on social reproduction and challenge hypotheses Developed longitudinal case studies of a “high-” and a “low- achieving” student

Results and Discussion HYP1: Parents’ and students’ educational and career aspirations and expectations (particularly expectations) would decline from 7 th to 12 th grade (Not supported) - There was no significant decline in parents’ or students’ educational and career aspirations and expectations from 7 th to 12 th grade -BUT: - Parents’ 12th grade educational and career aspirations were higher than their 12th grade educational and career expectations - Replicates 6th and 7th grade findings -Parents’ 12th grade aspirations > students’ 12th grade aspirations -- - Student aspirations reflect reality

Results and Discussion Con’t HYP2: Parent involvement would be higher at home than at school and in the community, and would decline as students got older (Supported) - Home-based > School-based > Community-based - Elementary school > Junior high > High school -Biggest decrease was between elementary and junior high school - High involvement at home and in community religious activities - Safe and comfortable environments - Supports Sociocultural research

Results and Discussion Con’t HYP3: Students would have more college knowledge than parents (Not supported) - Students (M = 4.11, SD = 1.32) and parents (M = 4.00, SD = 2.25) answered about the same number of questions correctly - Replicates Tornatsky et al. (2002) - Parents and students answered different questions correctly -Parents: cost of attending college; U.S. residency -Students: college-prep classes Validity of Spanish version questions is questionable

Results and Discussion Con’t HYP4: Positive relation between aspirations and expectations, parental involvement, college knowledge with students' college-prep grades (Partially supported) Positive relation between: - Students’ college-prep grades and: -Students’ 12th grade career expectations [r s (16) = -.75, p <.01] -Student reports of parental involvement in church- related activities during junior high [r s (18) =.48, p =.05] and high school [r s (18) =.52, p =.03] -Mothers’ occupation level [r s (15) = -.53, p =.04] - Parents’ college knowledge and family income [r(18) =.73, p <.01]

Yin’s (2003) Pattern-Matching Approach: Predicting College Plans Social reproduction predictions: –Parent(s) had college education->Student would plan to attain college education –Parents had less than college education->Student would not plan to attain college education Challenge predictions: –Parent and student or student had high educational expectations, regardless of parental education level, - >Student would plan to attain college education –Parent and student both had low educational expectations - >Student would not plan to attain college education

Challenge Hypothesis was Better at Predicting Students’ Plans

Higher-Achieving vs Lower-Achieving Student Patterns High-Achieving 8 students Higher: – % had college plans – Parent career expectations - Student 12th grade career aspirations and expectations Low-Achieving 10 students Lower: –% had college plans –Parent career expectations –Student 12th grade career aspirations and expectations

Lourdes and José Lourdes -5-yrs-old when came to U.S. -College-educated father -Supportive and involved parents -High navigation between “worlds” and utilized resources -High and clear expectations José -5-yrs-old when came to U.S. -College-educated father -Supportive and involved parents -Low navigation between “worlds” and did not utilize resources (AVID) -Low and vague expectations

Conclusion Mexican-descent parents came to the U.S. so their children could have better lives than the ones they had in Mexico - Had high aspirations for their children’s future - Were highly involved in their children’s education, especially at home and through their churches - BUT, lacked college knowledge This study points to the importance of: 1) Providing college knowledge early in multiple settings, multiple formats, and multiple languages 2) Listening to and supporting students’ own goals 3) Using culturally sensitive research designs, instruments, and measures, and 4) Conducting longitudinal research during the transition from high school to community college

Acknowledgements Catherine Cooper, Barbara Rogoff, Heather Bullock, and Patricia Gándara Undergraduate RAs The families in this study My family ASHE Dissertation Fellowship UC MEXUS Dissertation Grant

Educational Aspirations and Expectations

Career Aspirations and Expectations

School Involvement

Home Involvement

Community Involvement

Parental Involvement Decreased Over Time

Parents and Students Had Knowledge in Different Topics