Purpose: In the United States, after-school programs have been found to improve healthy behaviors and increase time in safe, structured environments for youth, but less is known about Latin American contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of an educational program in an underserved school in Latin America. Method: A…

Background/Context: There is a growing need for schools to examine the best ways of working with immigrant and multilingual families, as it is ever more likely that all teachers will work with multilingual newcomers and their children during their career. However, teachers often view multilingual families in deficit ways, and many teachers lack…

Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally…

This paper addresses the positioning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach programmes within universities' operations. Though universities in many respects form a rather homogenous international community, there is wide diversity in regard to the provision of STEM outreach by different institutions. To explain this…

This report is the second volume of Cedefop research on empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways. It presents the Cedefop analytical framework for developing upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults and illustrates its conceptual development. The analytical framework is aimed at supporting policymakers and stakeholders in…

What roles do parent and family engagement and community outreach play in educator efforts to improve low-performing urban schools? To address this question, we considered findings from our 3-year case study of Brookdale Elementary (a pseudonym), which was undergoing a state-mandated, district-directed turnaround reform effort from 2011 to 2014.…

As our world becomes more interconnected on international, domestic, and personal levels, our need to be more culturally competent increases (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007; Ting-Toomey, 1999). Recognizing this need, Washington State University Extension sought to increase skills of its personnel by developing a set of cultural competencies…

This paper uses ethnographic data from research in three middle schools in Queens, New York and analyzes school choice publications created and distributed by the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) to answer questions about how the district and school-level communication strategies and materials facilitate and/or complicate Latin…

How schools can reach out to students and families from diverse cultural backgrounds was studied by examining the experiences of four families with students enrolled in a middle school in New York City. Also studied were families' perceptions of the school's efforts to reach out. The school's student body was 47% Latino and 34% African American,…

This 4-year study in a southern California school district examines parent involvement activities affecting about 100 families to encourage Spanish-speaking parents to participate more fully in their children's schooling. Unconventional activities validating families' social and cultural experience are more successful than conventional means of…

Interviews with 35 members of Interagency Coordinating Councils (ICCs), authorized by Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, revealed that a wide variety of public awareness and child-find strategies were utilized to improve program participation of culturally/linguistically diverse groups. There was some ICC representation…

This review of child health care services examines some comprehensive primary care programs begun in the past decade throughout the U.S. and explains in simple language current thinking about the organization of health care for children. It is noted that loss of support may threaten certain currently successful programs, and that a great need…

The present study documented and evaluated steps taken by public mental health administrators to recruit members of underrepresented ethnic minority populations into treatment. By surveying county-level ethnic program specialists in the decentralized California state system, the study identified strategies considered effective for reaching African…

This document contains 14 papers presented at an annual symposium sponsored by Northern Illinois University's Department of Leadership and Educational Policy Studies and College of Education. First, information about the symposium's history and participants is presented. The following papers constitute the remainder of the document:…