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June-July 2015 IDRA Newsletter: Accountability and Civic Engagement

“In transforming schools, we must make connections from actionable knowledge to families, to the broader community and to schools through strategic actions that give new life, mobilize and are evidence that change and transformation for the better is possible.”– Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President and CEO

Published 10 times a year, each edition explores issues facing U.S. education today and strategies to better serve every student. This newsletter is published in print and on the IDRA website, in addition to this eLetter format. 

Supporting Undocumented Youth through Community Engagement

by Sofia Bahena, Ed.D.

Immigration policy is an issue that touches the lives of many in the United States. The most recent estimate by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that, as of March 2012, 775,000 children younger than 18 years old were living in the United States without proper authorization (Passel, et al., 2014).

Even if not undocumented themselves, many children are growing up with someone who is. It is estimated that one in 10 children is part of a mixed-status home, where at least one family member is not documented (Passel, 2006). These demographics have direct relevance to our nation’s public schools, as children from families with at least one undocumented parent make up 6.9 percent of all K-12 students in the country (Passel & Cohn, 2014).

Research has begun to document the implications of legal status – of either the child or of his or her parents – on children’s educational experiences, as well as their socio-emotional and physical health. While some research has found that undocumented students may be particularly vulnerable to higher levels of depression, stress and isolation (Gonzales & Chavez, 2012; Gonzales, et al., 2013), other research has found undocumented youth to be incredibly resilient (Gonzales, 2008; Perez, 2009; Perez, et al., 2009). And, importantly, schools, families and communities can play a significant role in development and educational experiences of undocumented youth and those who are members of mixed-status families. – Keep reading

¿Y Ahora Qué? And Now What? – Community Groups in South Texas Work Together to Improve Education

by Josie D. Cortez, M.A.

It was a fall day in 2007 when IDRA staff walked into a church room in a Brownsville colonia to first meet the executive directors of about a dozen community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. IDRA had just received funding from the Marguerite Casey Foundation to work with their grantees to strengthen their capacity in evaluating their work in communities that span two counties and several hundred square miles in deep south Texas. As we walked in with our projector and slides, we noticed there wasn’t a screen or an uncovered wall that would work. As is our custom, we improvised and put long tables up against the walls, using them for our introductory slide presentation.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation program officer at the time, Peter Bloch García, had set up the meeting primarily as an introduction for us. I still have that first meeting’s agenda with the warm-up activity titled, “What’s one story of how your organization made a difference for someone?” As each person spoke, it became clear how extraordinary these individuals and their organizations are. And what also became clear was the extraordinary force these individuals and their organizations could be if they worked together. Their reach could expand exponentially, as could their impact. Our last agenda item for that first meeting was: “¿Y Ahora Qué? And now what?”

A Powerful Network of Community Organizations
Eight years later, there is an Equal Voice-Rio Grande Valley Network with 11 CBOs and seven working groups, all collaborating to give voice to an estimated 50,000 constituents in their low-income communities. Throughout it all, with funding from the Marguerite Casey Foundation and leveraged funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the Kresge Foundation, IDRA has provided strategic capacity strengthening support to the Equal Voice-RGV Network and its individual organizations. – Keep reading

Parents from Across Texas Share Ideas and Strategies at Annual IDRA La Semana del Niño Parent Institute

by Felix Montes, Ph.D.

Parent accountability and civic engagement in education received a significant boost with the advent of the 1966 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), passed as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” The act mandated that funds be authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and parent involvement promotion. The act has been reauthorized to this day, and programs have spread throughout the country.

However, parent participation in many of those programs has been lackluster. As a researcher with more than 20 years of experience evaluating educational programs in schools and school districts in Texas, it’s not unusual for me to hear this summary statement from school program staff, “We have an excellent parent involvement program; now all we need is the parents to come.”

At the same time, for more than 20 years, hundreds of parents from all over Texas have been traveling to San Antonio for the Annual IDRA La Semana del Niño Parent Institute each April.  A bus loaded with parents came from Dallas this year. Another group came from the Rio Grande Valley. Yet another came from San Marcos and surrounding communities.

Nearly 300 people participated in the institute this spring, most of them parents. And all of this with minimal advertisement, in fact, mostly by word of mouth. This begs the question: Why are parents so willing to attend this parent institute by the hundreds and yet are missing those “excellent local parent involvement programs?” – Keep reading

Six Teens Win 2015 National Essay Contest Awards – Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program Tutors Share Stories of the Program’s Impact on Their Lives

“I no longer want to be referred to as the student who is a troublemaker and doesn’t seem to care about her education. I want to be looked at as a role model, responsible student, and community leader.’”– Agustina García

Six students received prizes in a national competition among participants in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, a nationally-recognized cross-age tutoring program of the Intercultural Development Research Association. Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program tutors wrote about how the program helped them do better in school and how they had helped their tutees to do better.

There were competitions at both the middle school and high school levels in the United States. Winners from each competition are being awarded $200 for first place, $150 for second place and $100 for third place. – Keep reading

Meet Sofía Bahena, Ed.D., IDRA Senior Education Associate

This year, the IDRA Newsletter is highlighting our staff’s varied and diverse talents and backgrounds. Dr. Sofía Bahena is a member of IDRA’s Department of Civic Engagement. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who taught her the value of hard work and education from an early age, proud aunt to nine nieces and nephews, and native San Antonian. Although she had been away for several New England winters, her heart never left Texas. She is happy to be back and is enjoying falling in love with San Antonio all over again. When she is not in the office she enjoys spending time with her nephews and nieces (which by her 8-year old niece’s account is “more fun than Netflix”), working out at a local gym, exploring downtown San Antonio, and salsa dancing to live music.

Over the last several months, Sofía has been part of a group of Latinos diligently working to establish the Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance (HLAA), the first of its kind to be officially recognized by Harvard University. As a first-generation college student and as a Latina in higher education, the mentorship and support from her community has played a critical role in her academic and professional journey. She hopes that the HLAA will facilitate a greater sense of community within the Harvard Latino community, help promote a more visible representation of Latinos at all levels of the university, and provide mentorship to young students across the country (particularly those who aspire to study in institutions of higher education where Latinos tend to be underrepresented).  Sofía loves to travel new places and eat good food with good people. Her goal is to travel to at least five countries in the next seven years, including Peru, Greece and South Africa. – See online

2015 Martha A. Hernández Scholarship Winner Announced

Ms. Alexis Valdez has been selected as this year’s Martha A. Hernández Scholarship recipient. During her life and in her work at IDRA, Ms. Hernández distinguished herself for exceptional professionalism, service and care of others. IDRA set up a scholarship in her name through the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. The San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame presented this scholarship award and others during a candlelight ceremony for graduating seniors at the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of San Antonio ISD. In addition, SAWHOF presented each graduate with a commemorative copy of the commencement address presented by Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel at the Our Lady of the Lake University graduation in May 2015. The text of the address is available online. Congratulations to Ms. Alexis Valdez and to all the graduates of YWLA and OLLU!

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Connect with Us Online

Classnotes Podcasts

Engaging Parents through Powerful Coalition Building, with José Medrano of the START Center in South Texas

Parent Institutes for Education – Episode 89

Communities Using Data to Improve their Schools – Episode 34

School Change Strategies – Episode 53

School Accountability to Poor Families – Episode 60

Featured Videos

Video: Dropout Prevention that Works – See this quick overview of how the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program impacts students and schools. [01:30 min]

Watch videos from the IDRA’s Annual La Semana del Niño Parent Institute™. Multiple sessions were streamed live and are on YouTube. Topics include:

- Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program [44:27 min]
- Family Leadership for Student Success – Full day in the central room [05:13:04 min]
- The Prek 4 SA Model [27:21 min]
- Leadership in Early Childhood Education [31:57 min]
- Texas Education Policy [54:31 min]