Development of the Education Our Best Legacy program

Based on Latino focus group findings, the development team worked closely with the Latino cultural guides to draft an educational program. (Get more information on the cultural guide process on the Partnering for School Success project webpage.)

The development team used two theories to help development the program:

• Trans-theoretical model of change.

• Adaptive change model.

These theories recognize that:

• Learning occurs in social context.

• Personal, behavioral and environmental factors influence one another.

• Ongoing function is a product of a continuous interaction between these factors.

The specifics for how to facilitate this program were written down in a “facilitator manual”-type format. Two complete educational packages of the program resources were developed:

• Educación: Nuestra mejor herencia paquete educativo para familias latinas — This is the original educational package that is in Spanish. It is intended to be delivered to Spanish-speaking participants by Spanish-speaking facilitators.

• Education: Our Best Legacy Educational Package for Latino Families — This is the English-translated version of the original Spanish educational package. Given some of the program team members did not speak Spanish, an English version was needed for development purposes.

[Both versions are sold together as Education: Our Best Legacy educational package for Latino families.]

It is important to note that the English version of the Latino package is not intended to be taught to non-Latino participants. It has not been tested and validated with non-Latino, English-speaking participants. Remember, an objective of the original program was to deliver a program in Spanish to participants who have Spanish as their first — or only — language. Using the English version to teach this audience would go against the objectives of the program. That said, you may want to use the English version if:

• Your audience is Latino and fluent in English.

• You are teaching the class as part of a larger ESL or ELL effort.

• You need a reference for those facilitators and partners for whom English is their first language.

The title of this program, Education: Our Best Legacy (Educación: Nuestra mejor herencia in Spanish), was chosen by Latino parents. In the focus groups Latino parents:

• Told moving stories about leaving their home countries in order to live and work in the U.S.

• Described sacrifices they have made in order to build a better life for their children.

• Felt that educational attainment was key to a better life for their children. School success means better education, high school graduation, and higher education.

These parents felt the title, Education: Our Best Legacy, accurately described both:

• Why the program was important.

• Why Latino parents would attend the classes.

A draft of the program was piloted in spring 2009. It was subsequently revised and piloted at two middle schools.

Both of the original pilot class locations were in Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs, i.e., urban areas of Minnesota. The program has since been offered in more rural areas of Minnesota.

Evaluation of the pilot program found that parents who participated improved their understanding of:

• Parent-child and parent-school communication.

• The importance of graduating from high school.

• The importance of higher education or training beyond high school.

• The U.S. school system.

The facilitator manual and related program resources were sent to reviewers in late 2013. The introductory and supplemental resources were finalized in early 2016.

Schools who used the original program asked for a similar program to reach other underserved audiences. In 2016 the program team adapted the original program to create a new version for participants who:

• Are not solely from the Latino cultural groups.

• Do not speak Spanish as their first language.

This version, Education: Our Best Legacy educational package, was made available early 2017.

Plans are currently underway to culturally adapt the program for Hmong families. Completion of this project is anticipated in 2018. See more about this project:  Hmong families and schools promoting students' success.
It should also be noted that the project team received a five year grant (2012-2017) from Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR). This grant continued the work started with the Latino focus groups and Education: Our Best Legacy program. See more about the Partnering for School Success CYFAR (PSS CYFAR) project.