Involving Latino Families in Schools

Concha Delgado Gaitan, PhD, 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 concha@conchadg.com.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Author1. Life in Latino FamiliesConnectingSharing InformationAcross Generations of LatinosStaying InvolvedSummary2. Connecting Latino Parents to the ClassroomUnderstanding Parent Involvement3. Communicating Across the Home-School BorderInformal Verbal Contacts With ParentsSharing InformationVisiting FamiliesFocus GroupsWritten CorrespondenceLanguage at MeetingsStaying InvolvedSummary4. Instructing Parents to Teach at HomeConnectingSharing InformationStaying InvolvedMentoring ProjectSummary5. Involving Families in the Life of the SchoolConnectingSharing InformationParents as AdvocatesHome Experiences in the ClassroomParent Volunteers in the SchoolStaying InvolvedSummary6. Preparing Latino Students for Higher Education ConnectingSharing InformationSummary7. Designing Schoolwide Parent-Involvement ProgramsConnectingSharing InformationStaying InvolvedSummary8. Forming School-Family-Community PartnershipsNational Networking for Assisting Local SchoolsGrassroots Organizing for Latino Parent InvolvementCollege Track Community ProgramSummaryEducational and Cultural Informational and Support ResourcesCited and Suggested References Index

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.