Bridging the Communication Gap between Latino Families and Public Schools

This book describes the home-school communication experiences of five Latino families in order to showcase the communication challenges Latino parents, and their children, encounter as they navigate the American education system. As former PK–12 practitioners, now educator-preparation program faculty, the authors contend that there is a clear communication gap between a predominantly White teaching and leadership force—teachers, school principals, and counselors—and the Black and Brown student population. Research findings included in this book demonstrate that Latino/a students remain persistent targets of deficit-thinking beliefs, implicit bias, and low-level academic expectations in school settings, and also that positive interactions with teachers, counselors, and school leaders are connected to student cognitive development, creative thinking, and overall student success. Through the family stories and research findings included in this book, this book makes a case for the far-reaching consequences home-school relations have on the overall educational trajectory of the fastest-growing group of students in the United States—Latino/a students. This book provides teacher educators and pre-service teachers with knowledge from the field and connections to scholarly findings so they may be in a more informed position to enact best policies and practices in order to help Latino/a students thrive.