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SAN FRANCISCO – A program offering parenting classes tailored to Latino families is showing promise as a way to help children arrive in kindergarten ready to learn, a key early benchmark that educators say can help close entrenched achievement gaps across racial and economic lines.
The national program, called Abriendo Puertas, offers classes in more than 80 California cities and was the subject of a University of California, Berkeley study showing that parents who took the classes gained a better understanding of how their children learn and how they can help prepare their children for school. The program reflects a growing awareness that promoting early parental engagement in a child’s education is key to his or her academic success later on.
Researchers said Latino families are in particular need of this intervention because of low levels of adult education, minimal focus on reading to children at home and a lack of knowledge about how young children learn. Latino children are also historically less likely to attend preschool than their black, white and Asian peers, which makes the care and education they are receiving at home particularly important. On top of that, many Latino children with Spanish-speaking parents must learn English as a second language to be successful in school.
Last year, Latino students as a group received a score on the state’s Academic Performance Index of 740, compared to 852 for whites and 905 for Asians. The API is a composite score on a scale of 200 to 1000 based on multiple standardized tests administered each year in California schools. This gap is evident before students even start school. Latino children as young as 2 years old already lag behind white children in both language and cognitive skills, according to a study by the University of California, Berkeley Institute for Human Development.
“It becomes really important to think about how we can work with parents and make some changes that might affect that,” said Margaret Bridges, a developmental psychologist at the Institute who co-authored the study measuring the impact of Abriendo Puertas classes on parents’ knowledge about child development and parenting techniques.
The 10-session Abriendo Puertas – “Opening Doors” in Spanish – curriculum is designed to meet the specific needs of Latino families with young children. Classes cover topics from the importance of reading at home as a way to instill early language skills and prepare children for school, to healthy nutritional habits, to positive discipline. For example, in the class on literacy, parents learn that they can teach young children early literacy skills in Spanish that will translate to English literacy skills later. The idea is to combat the low academic performance of Latino children by showing their first teachers, their parents, the best ways to interact with and teach young children at home and to advocate for them once they get to school.
Abriendo Puertas classes are offered in 196 cities and 31 states, including more than 200 locations in California. The free classes are offered to low-income parents with children ranging from infants to age 5. The weekly two-hour classes are offered through local family resource centers. The centers are often attached to a school or child care facility and offer a range of services from child care and preschool to mental health and family counseling and legal advice. Classes are meant to be scheduled at times that working parents, many of whom have non-traditional hours, can easily attend.
The national program is funded with grants from Boeing and the Kellogg Foundation and with support from an anonymous philanthropist. Any organization wishing to have staff trained in teaching the curriculum can pay $2,000 per staff member, or apply for scholarships, for a three-day training from the national program. The cost of the training includes program materials and prepares trainees to teach other local experts to facilitate the classes.
This model is called “train the trainers” and is meant to ensure parents learn from community members with whom they share an equal footing. The Berkeley study was done on classes taught by this second generation of trainers and shows the model can be effective, Bridges said.
The program was first developed in 2007 with significant input from Latina mothers, said Sandra Gutierrez, the program’s national director. The classes are infused with elements of the Latino culture.
“We did a lot of listening,” Gutierrez said. “The voices of the parents are in the curriculum. That’s why parents like it.”
The Berkeley study used surveys of 625 participants in 35 different classes in six states to determine that parents in the classes showed a significant growth in their understanding of the topics covered. Eighty-six percent of those participants were immigrants and more than half of them had not finished high school. Researchers administered pre- and post-class surveys to participants asking about each of the 10 subject areas covered by the course. Parents showed significant improvement in their understanding of all 10, including a better grasp of how their children learn at early ages, ways to promote language and literacy skills and how to better prepare their children for school.
“(Parents) were gaining a lot of practical knowledge about ways they were interacting with their children in more effective ways,” Bridges said.
While the current research shows that the program has a clear effect on parents’ knowledge, there is not yet clear data on how the program affects the children of those parents. A study is being conducted in Los Angeles that will compare the outcomes of children whose parents attend Abriendo Puertas classes and children from similar socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds whose parents do not attend the classes. Gutierrez said results of that study are expected in 2014.
Gutierrez is confident that the new study will show that her program is helping children as well as adults. She said parent engagement hasn’t risen to the top of the reform agenda yet, but she thinks that’s where it should be.
“Parents are undervalued and there’s a need to invest in parents to improve schools and student outcomes,” Gutierrez said. “The more families are engaged, the healthier country we’re going to have.”
Yuliana Velazquez recently graduated from the first Abriendo Puertas class to be offered in the rural town of Lost Hills, near Bakersfield in the Central Valley.
“I started coming to this program because my kids wouldn’t listen,” said Velazquez, a mother of a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old. “They would stress me out. There was a point when I just didn’t want to come home after work.”
Velazquez grew up in the United States, and had her first child when she was 18. She said she needed to learn how to talk to her kids, ways to show them that they are her priority and what she can do to help them succeed in school.
In another effort to connect to Latino parents, Abriendo Puertas works proverbs, mostly of Mexican origin, into the curriculum and uses illustrations based on the popular Mexican bingo game known as “loterÍa” in all its materials.
A recent Tuesday afternoon class at the Bayview Hunter’s Point Family Resource Center in San Francisco focused on the importance of parents taking care of their own emotional health to better care for their kids. A poster-sized illustration in the front of the room showed a mother and daughter looking at each other on a bright red background in classic loterÍa style. Tacked above a TV monitor displaying the Powerpoint for the day’s class was a handwritten sign reading, “Cada cabeza es un mundo,” which translates to: “Each head is a world.”
Ana Moreno, a foster mother of three and a Peruvian immigrant, heard about the classes during a visit to her local library. “It’s helped me a lot, every day,” Moreno said in Spanish.
Moreno, who does not have children of her own, was near tears in expressing her gratitude for the classes. Learning about child development has helped her better provide for all three of her foster children: a toddler and two older children, she said. She and her eldest foster daughter both suffered abuse as children and Moreno said that made it difficult for them to trust each other. Moreno said the classes, several of which teach techniques for communicating with children, have helped her to gain her daughter’s trust. Now she and her daughter can talk more openly, she said, and that has led to better behavior and more confidence.
Rosario Velazquez is the case manager for the Lost Hills Family Resource Center. She said that she became interested in offering the Abriendo Puertas program in her rural community because of its focus on Latino parents.
“My goal is for (parents) to recognize and identify their potential in being advocates for their kids’ education,” she said. “It’s a program that I would have liked to be present in my community before now.”
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Comments (13)
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Letycia Pastrana 5 years ago5 years ago
I would like to learn more about your programs.
Paul 11 years ago11 years ago
The concept of white people's teaching brown people how to parent is vaguely pejorative. As a teacher, I met many white parents who would have benefited from self help classes, if not from professional psychological intervention. Those parents could not accept even the smallest blemish on a child's record -- a "B" grade, a citizenship score of less than "outstanding", a discipline referral -- because they either saw it as a parenting failure or were living … Read More
The concept of white people’s teaching brown people how to parent is vaguely pejorative.
As a teacher, I met many white parents who would have benefited from self help classes, if not from professional psychological intervention. Those parents could not accept even the smallest blemish on a child’s record — a “B” grade, a citizenship score of less than “outstanding”, a discipline referral — because they either saw it as a parenting failure or were living vicariously through their children.
Replies
el 11 years ago11 years ago
I would love to create a culture where all parents come to parenting classes via the school, that it’s just expected. All of us need to learn these skills, all of us benefit from hearing what other people’s kids are like at home, all of us can use the networking opportunity to meet other parents in the neighborhood.
Lillian Mongeau 11 years ago11 years ago
Paul - Sorry for the late response, I've been out of town. This program is not "white people teaching brown people." The program was designed by a mostly Latino staff with significant input from Latina mothers in the target, low-income communities. And the "train-the-trainer" model means that the majority of on-the-ground instructors are also Latino. Here's the section of the story that covers these issues: "Abriendo Puertas classes are offered in 196 cities and 31 states, including more than … Read More
Paul –
Sorry for the late response, I’ve been out of town.
This program is not “white people teaching brown people.” The program was designed by a mostly Latino staff with significant input from Latina mothers in the target, low-income communities. And the “train-the-trainer” model means that the majority of on-the-ground instructors are also Latino.
Here’s the section of the story that covers these issues:
“Abriendo Puertas classes are offered in 196 cities and 31 states, including more than 200 locations in California. The free classes are offered to low-income parents with children ranging from infants to age 5. The weekly two-hour classes are offered through local family resource centers. The centers are often attached to a school or child care facility and offer a range of services from child care and preschool to mental health and family counseling and legal advice. Classes are meant to be scheduled at times that working parents, many of whom have non-traditional hours, can easily attend.
“The national program is funded with grants from Boeing and the Kellogg Foundation and with support from an anonymous philanthropist. Any organization wishing to have staff trained in teaching the curriculum can pay $2,000 per staff member, or apply for scholarships, for a three-day training from the national program. The cost of the training includes program materials and prepares trainees to teach other local experts to facilitate the classes.
“This model is called “train the trainers” and is meant to ensure parents learn from community members with whom they share an equal footing. The Berkeley study was done on classes taught by this second generation of trainers and shows the model can be effective, Bridges said.
“The program was first developed in 2007 with significant input from Latina mothers, said Sandra Gutierrez, the program’s national director. The classes are infused with elements of the Latino culture.
“‘We did a lot of listening,’ Gutierrez said. ‘The voices of the parents are in the curriculum. That’s why parents like it.'”
~Lillian
Paul 11 years ago11 years ago
Lillian, my comment wasn't literal, and it may be that only other people of color can understand it. I wasn't referring to the skin color of the teachers, or even of the program managers, but rather, to a basic difference between the public education establishment (the people who make big decisions about such programs) and the clients. The fact that there is a perceived need to teach parents about the dominant schoolgoing culture, and the fact … Read More
Lillian, my comment wasn’t literal, and it may be that only other people of color can understand it. I wasn’t referring to the skin color of the teachers, or even of the program managers, but rather, to a basic difference between the public education establishment (the people who make big decisions about such programs) and the clients.
The fact that there is a perceived need to teach parents about the dominant schoolgoing culture, and the fact that the message is cleverly slipped in with a dose of “Latino culture”, is problematic.
“Latino culture” is itself a dubious notion, given the wide variety of countries, ethnic groups, linguistic groups and historic movements involved. Monolithic cultural characterizations are problematic.
Paul 11 years ago11 years ago
Whenever I hear of "them"-type generalizations like "Latino culture", I am reminded of Buffy Sainte-Marie's lyrics, including, "You can still be an Indian down at the Y, on Saturday night", or of my own abject horror at experiencing Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride for the first time, complete with Animatronic, dark-skinned belly dancers wearing grass skirts and bustiers made of coconut halves. Read More
Whenever I hear of “them”-type generalizations like “Latino culture”, I am reminded of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s lyrics, including, “You can still be an Indian down at the Y, on Saturday night”, or of my own abject horror at experiencing Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World” ride for the first time, complete with Animatronic, dark-skinned belly dancers wearing grass skirts and bustiers made of coconut halves.
Lillian Mongeau 11 years ago11 years ago
Hi Paul, Fair enough, I just wanted to make sure the program design was clearly described. Also, I hear what you're saying about the problems inherent in teaching parents about a "dominant culture." I wondered about that too and asked some parents directly about it. I asked something along the lines of "Some people might worry that it's condescending to be told how to be a parent. How do you feel about that?" Most of the immigrant … Read More
Hi Paul,
Fair enough, I just wanted to make sure the program design was clearly described.
Also, I hear what you’re saying about the problems inherent in teaching parents about a “dominant culture.” I wondered about that too and asked some parents directly about it. I asked something along the lines of “Some people might worry that it’s condescending to be told how to be a parent. How do you feel about that?” Most of the immigrant parents I spoke with answered that they were eager to learn about the best ways to help their kids through school, or “the dominant school-going culture,” which they said they felt unprepared for before the classes. Several also expressed their feeling that they were respected by the instructors and that they gained a lot from talking through their concerns with other parents in the group. Many pointed out that they had never been parents before and that parenting was hard, the kind of thing you’d want outside help with. A few also volunteered that their parents had not been the role models that they wanted to be for their own kids and so thought the class was a way for them to learn things they hadn’t learned at home.
Anyway, I didn’t have room in the article to get into all of that, but since it seems of interest to you, I thought I’d share the extra reporting here 🙂
Cheers,
Lillian
Paul 11 years ago11 years ago
Hello, Lillian.
Thank you so much for taking time to ask parents and to report what they said!
The changes that I hope and wish for are “big”, system-level changes. As long as we have the education system that we have, it makes sense to acculturate outsiders to it, and this program does so effectively.
Paul
el 11 years ago11 years ago
Thanks, Lillian. I’m glad you asked those questions and I’m glad that the participants felt so positively about it.
navigio 11 years ago11 years ago
Wow, extremely interesting stuff. Thank you Lillian for sharing the perspective of those parents. Personally I think this notion of ‘dominant culture’ and how various subcultures see it and interact with it is very important.
CarolineSF 11 years ago11 years ago
In my nonprofit experience, the data come from evaluation forms filled out by the participants, not deep longitudinal studies. How the press should handle that is a valid question.
Roberto 11 years ago11 years ago
I would like to know where I could get data demonstrating the effectiveness of the program. Here in Los Angeles, after speaking with parents who had been part of this training, many have indicated not finding the program very effective. The problem is that data is not available. Any program could claim to be effective and robust when it comes to training parents and link this parent to their child's success. However, lack of data … Read More
I would like to know where I could get data demonstrating the effectiveness of the program. Here in Los Angeles, after speaking with parents who had been part of this training, many have indicated not finding the program very effective. The problem is that data is not available. Any program could claim to be effective and robust when it comes to training parents and link this parent to their child’s success. However, lack of data at times deters many individuals from trying to learn from any particular program. In addition, the second comment by many parents is that it does not address issues affecting children beyond middle school. I understand that it is vital to prepare our children while in elementary, but middle and high school years are are as essential to a child’s life as it is elementary. If you could direct to me where I could find date supporting the effectiveness of this program; whether there is a longitudinal study done and how many students have been served and follow up correlations, I would appreciate it.
Replies
Lillian Mongeau 11 years ago11 years ago
Hi Roberto, Sorry for the slow response - I was out of town. Here is the link to the U.C. Berkeley study (the link it in the article, but I just realized that I have the wrong link posted in the "Going Deeper" section where I normally list this kind of thing. I'll fix that too!): http://www.familiesinschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AP_OD-Brief-100212-FINAL-pages.pdf Also, it's important to note that this study doesn't look at the effect of the program on children, so it is … Read More
Hi Roberto,
Sorry for the slow response – I was out of town.
Here is the link to the U.C. Berkeley study (the link it in the article, but I just realized that I have the wrong link posted in the “Going Deeper” section where I normally list this kind of thing. I’ll fix that too!): http://www.familiesinschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AP_OD-Brief-100212-FINAL-pages.pdf
Also, it’s important to note that this study doesn’t look at the effect of the program on children, so it is only an initial positive effect that’s been shown so far. Here’s the section of my story that addresses the issue:
“While the current research shows that the program has a clear effect on parents’ knowledge, there is not yet clear data on how the program affects the children of those parents. A study is being conducted in Los Angeles that will compare the outcomes of children whose parents attend Abriendo Puertas classes and children from similar socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds whose parents do not attend the classes. Gutierrez said results of that study are expected in 2014.”
I’m curious to hear more about your conversations with parents about this program. Would you be willing to email me offline about how these conversations came about?
Thanks,
Lillian
lmongeau@edsource.org