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?

MethodsParticipants

- 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 DiscussionHYP1: Parents’ and students’ educational and career aspirations and expectations (particularly expectations) would decline from 7th to 12th grade (Not supported)

- There was no significant decline in parents’ or students’

educational and career aspirations and expectations from 7th

to 12th 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’tHYP2: 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’tHYP4: 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

[rs(16) = -.75, p < .01]- Student reports of parental involvement in church-

related activities during junior high [rs(18) = .48, p = .05] and high school [rs(18) = .52, p = .03]

- Mothers’ occupation level [rs(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

Table 10

Patterns Predicted by Social Reproduction and Challenge Hypotheses For Each Case

Student

CollegePrepGPA

# ofCollege

PrepClasses

AchLevel

SocialReproduction,

CollegePredicted?

Challenge,College

Predicted?

StudentEducational

Plans

Lourdes 3.71 31 S High Yes Yes, 4-yr college 2-yr, then 4-yrMaria 2.94 35 S High No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr, then 4-yrCarla 2.74 23 S High Yes Yes, 4-yr college 2-yr, then 4-yrJorge 2.68 19 S High Yes Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeAdrian 2.41 32 Q High No No Tech schoolMiguel 2.36 33 Q High No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeCinthia 2.20 20 S High No Yes, 4-yr college 2-yr collegeGonzalo 2.07 27 S High No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeJavier 1.96 27 Q Low No No High schoolAmanda 1.95 21 S Low No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr, then 4-yrRosa 1.80 30 S Low No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeDora 1.60 5 S Low No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeJose 1.48 25 Q Low Yes No MilitaryVicente 1.18 11 Q Low No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeJaime 1.05 19 Q Low No No Tech schoolCamilo .97 34 Q Low No Yes2-yr college High SchoolDiego .93 14 Q Low No Yes, 2-yr college 2-yr collegeMarta .70 10 S Low No Yes 2-yr college 2-yr collegeNote. Students’ names have been changed to protect their anonymity.a”S” indicates they were semester classes and “Q” indicates they were quarter classes.

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

ConclusionMexican-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 languages2) Listening to and supporting students’ own goals3) Using culturally sensitive research designs, instruments, and measures, and4) 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 Table 1

Parents’ and Students’ Educational Aspirations and Expectations During 7th and 12th

Grades (N=18)

Educational GoalsHigh

SchoolTrade/Voc

2yrCollege

4yrCollege

Master’sDegree

PhD/ MD Child’sChoice

As muchas

possible/Vague

Don’tKnow

7th grade parentaspiration

0 (0%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 15 (83%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

7th grade parentexpectation

2 (11%) 0 (0%) 3 (17%) 10 (56%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 1 (6%)

7th grade studentaspiration

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 16 (89%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%)

7th grade studentexpectationa

- - - - - - - - -

12th grade parentaspiration

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 7 (39%) 9 (50%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

12th grade parentexpectation

3 (17%) 1 (6%) 5 (28%) 3 (17%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 2 (11%) 1 (6%) 2 (11%)

12th grade studentaspiration

2 (11%) 3 (17%) 2 (11%) 6 (33%) 4 (22%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

12th grade studentexpectation

1 (6%) 3 (17%) 9 (50%) 4 (22%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Note. Row totals may not equal 18 (or 100%) because 7th grade data were not available for one of the cases.aIn 7th grade, students were not asked to report their educational expectations.

Career Aspirations and ExpectationsTable 2

Parents’ and Students’ Career Aspirations and Expectations During 7th and 12th Grades(N=18)

Career Goals Un-skilled

Semi-skilled

Skilled Clerical/ Sales

AdminPersonnel

BusinessManager

HighExec

Child’sChoice

As muchas

possible/Vague

Don’tKnow

7th grade parentaspiration

1 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (11%) 0 (0%) 4 (22%) 9 (50%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 0 (0%)

7th grade parentexpectation

2 (11%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 2 (11%) 2 (11%) 6 (33%) 1 (6%) 1 (6%) 1 (6%) 1 (6%)

7th grade studentaspiration

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3 (17%) 0 (0%) 3 (17%) 5 (28%) 5 (28%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%)

7th grade studentexpectationa

- - - - - - - - - -

12th grade parentaspiration

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 1 (6%) 6 (33%) 7 (39%) 2 (11%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%)

12th grade parentexpectation

0 (0%) 0 (0%) 5 (28%) 1 (6%) 2 (11%) 3 (17%) 0 (0%) 2 (11%) 0 (0%) 5 (28%)

12th grade studentaspiration

0 (0%) 1 (6%) 4 (22%) 1 (6%) 4 (22%) 4 (22%) 4 (22%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

12th grade studentexpectation

1 (6%) 2 (11%) 2 (11%) 2 (11%) 2 (11%) 4 (22%) 3 (17%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (11%)

Note. Row totals may not equal 18 (or 100%) because 7th grade data were not available for one of the cases.aIn 7th grade, students were not asked to report their career expectations.

School InvolvementTable 6

Mean Parent and Student Reports of School-Based Parental Involvement During Elementary, Junior High, and HighSchool

Elementary School Junior High High SchoolSchool-Based Activities

Parent Student Parent Student Parent Student

1. Vo lunteer at (TS's) school 2.39 1.67 1.67 1.06 0.89 0.83

2. Attend parent-teacher conferences 3.67 3.17 3.56 1.94 2.61 1.50

3. Visit (TS's) school counselor to check how(TS) was doing in school

2.39 0.56 2.56 0.61 2.56 0.94

4. Visit (TS's) classrooms 3.06 1.78 2.00 0.83 1.00 0.56

5. Attend Parent Teacher Association (PTA)meetings

3.44 1.22 2.89 0.61 1.78 0.50

6. Serve on school committees at (TS's) school 1.78 0.89 1.22 0.33 0.61 0.22

7. Attend workshops at (TS's) school 2.06 0.44 1.33 0.28 0.67 0.44

8. Attend school fieldtrips with (TS) 2.83 1.83 1.11 0.50 0.06 0.22

9. Attend sports events at (TS's) school 1.67 0.44 1.22 0.56 1.17 0.78

10. Attend school plays or concerts 3.00 1.83 1.67 0.78 0.50 0.33

11. Help with fundraising events at (TS's) school 3.56 1.39 2.50 0.72 1.50 0.78

12. Attend school council meetings 2.78 1.28 2.33 0.61 1.61 0.83

13. Go to (TS's) school because you were calledby a teacher or school counselor

1.39 1.61 1.33 1.33 1.72 1.39

Note. 4 = “always,” 3 = “often,” 2 = “once in a while,” 1 = “rarely,” and 0 = “never.”

Home InvolvementTable 7

Mean Parent and Student Reports of Home-Based Parental Involvement DuringElementary, Junior High, and High School

Elementary School Junior High High SchoolHome-Based Activities

Parent Student Parent Student Parent Student

1. Help (TS) with homework 3.50 2.56 2.56 1.28 1.67 0.56

2. Talk with (TS) about what he/she was learning atschool

3.67 2.89 3.50 2.17 3.39 1.78

3. Help (TS) choose his/her classes 1.22 0.78 1.89 0.56 1.78 0.50

4. Had trouble understanding (TS's) homework 0.89 0.94 2.17 1.89 2.33 2.06

5. Check that (TS's) homework was done 3.78 2.94 3.61 2.06 2.61 1.00

6. Make sure (TS) had a quiet place to do homeworkor study

3.78 1.78 3.78 1.11 3.56 1.00

7. Make sure (TS) went to bed by a certain time 3.78 2.33 3.78 1.22 3.06 0.28

8. Talk with (TS) about his future educational andcareer goals

3.28 2.06 3.44 2.22 3.78 3.00

9. Restrict the amount of television (TS) watched 2.61 1.72 2.50 0.94 2.11 0.50

10. Discuss (TS"s) school grades or report cards withhim/her

3.61 2.94 3.61 3.06 3.61 3.00

11. Monitor (TS's) friendships 3.94 2.17 3.94 2.28 3.50 2.00

12. Not allow (TS) to work/do chores during theschool week

3.06 0.89 3.06 0.78 3.06 0.50

13. Provide (TS) with moral advice (e.g., consejos) 3.94 2.94 3.94 3.44 3.72 3.50Note. 4 = “always,” 3 = “often,” 2 = “once in a while,” 1 = “rarely,” and 0 = “never.”

Community InvolvementTable 8Mean Parent and Student Reports of Community-Based Parental Involvement

Elementary School Junior High High SchoolCommunity-Based Activities

Parent Student Parent Student Parent Student

1. Travel for leisure or educational purposes within California 1.94 0.89 1.39 0.78 0.94 0.94

2. Travel for leisure or educational purposes outside California, butwithin the U.S.

0.11 0.39 0.44 0.33 0.50 0.39

3. Travel for leisure or educational purposes outside the U.S. 0.39 0.72 0.33 0.67 0.56 0.67

4. Attend plays/theatre 0.94 0.61 0.78 0.39 0.39 0.22

5. Visit museums/zoos/aquariums 2.06 2.00 1.11 1.17 0.44 0.56

6. Visit science or nature exhibits or preserves 1.11 1.28 0.67 0.72 0.33 0.33

7. Drive (TS) to practice a musical instrument 1.11 0.67 0.22 0.44 0.00 0.00

8. Drive (TS) to practice or play a sport 1.11 0.89 0.89 0.61 1.11 0.61

9. Visit college or university campuses 0.22 0.22 0.28 0.33 0.44 0.33

10. Participate in political campaigns or organizations 0.06 0.22 0.06 0.00 0.39 0.22

11. Drive (TS) to leadership functions 0.39 0.44 0.39 0.22 0.39 0.17

12. Participate in public service activities 0.39 0.33 0.50 0.06 0.33 0.17

13. Participate in career opportunity programs 0.33 0.22 0.33 0.17 0.17 0.33

14. Participate in college outreach program activities (e.g., CAP,Upward Bound, AVID)

0.00 0.22 0.00 0.22 0.06 0.22

15. Participate in religious organizations or activities 3.44 3.00 3.11 2.78 2.89 2.17

16. Participate in or attend musical or dance performances 1.44 1.17 1.06 0.44 0.39 0.06

Note. 4 = “always,” 3 = “often,” 2 = “once in a while,” 1 = “rarely,” and 0 = “never.”

Parental Involvement Decreased Over TimeTable 5

Means and Standard Deviations for Parent and Student Reports of Parental Involvement

Practices during Elementary, Junior High, and High School

Parent Report M SD Student Report M SD

Elementary School Elementary SchoolHome 3.18 .52 Home 2.07 .73School 2.62 .70 School 1.39 .91Community .94 .51 Community .83 .80

Junior High School Junior High SchoolHome 3.21 .58 Home 1.77 .55School 1.95 .90 School .78 .69Community .72 .40 Community .58 .46

High School High SchoolHome 2.93 .64 Home 1.51 .45School 1.28 .74 School .72 .74Community .59 .34 Community .46 .37

Parents and Students Had Knowledge in Different Topics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

College Knowledge Questions

Percent

Parents 50 61 28 28 50 28 72 83

Students 61 44 61 33 39 44 50 78

AP1 AP2College Prep1

College Prep2

College Type

SATIIResident / Fin Aid

College Cost