A statewide need for Latino cultural competency training for Utah State University (USU) Extension personnel was identified. The solution involved the collaborative efforts of our team of two USU Extension faculty members and one Washington State University (WSU) Extension faculty member on adaption and customization of a needs assessment tool and…

This article presents findings from a qualitative research study conducted with and for Latina mother leaders. Using a "muxerista" (womanist) framework, we demonstrate how Latina mother leaders articulate forms of leadership to advocate for their children and utilize leadership strategies in the development of educational policy such as…

Spanish speakers in the United States are a steadily increasing population, up by 233% since 1980. Given the growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) and the large numbers of Spanish-speaking children enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, addressing the educational needs of preschool-aged DLLs has become a national imperative.…

Spanish speakers in the United States are a steadily increasing population, up by 233% since 1980. Given the growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) and the large numbers of Spanish-speaking children enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, addressing the educational needs of preschool-aged DLLs has become a national imperative.…

Environmental sustainability outreach programs can benefit significantly by connecting to and fostering change within the Spanish speaking community. This article demonstrates a case study in which the authors partnered with a local Latino organization through an undergraduate service learning project. The goals were to incorporate environmentally…

This article addresses the question of whether higher education Hispanic students of different nationalities have different perceptual learning style preferences. Independent samples t test results suggest students of non-Mexican heritage prefer visual learning styles more than students of Mexican heritage. ANOVA results show older students and…

Bilingual education--chiefly the subcategory of dual language bilingual education--has been undergoing a pattern where the interests of language-minoritized communities have in several contexts been pushed out of the way. One aspect of this gentrification process has been the "fiftyfication" of dual language bilingual education policy,…

Utah's state planned model of dual language education has grown and spread rapidly. Drawing on critical race theory and LatCrit, we examined state policy documents and promotional materials for their discursive portrayal of Latinas/os. Our analysis revealed a pattern of centering the interests of the White, English-dominant majority and those…

This article describes a community-based participatory action research project (PAR), "Voces Diversas e Importantes" [Diverse and Important Voices] that the intergenerational Family School Partnership (FSP) collective enacted to support citizenship participation and increase the possibilities undocumented Latina/o students and families…

A wealth of literature shows positive outcomes and experiences from arts learning, yet youth access to arts education has become significantly more inequitable over the past 30 years. Alongside the growing discourse around arts learning and equity issues, there is a recognized and persistent need for more research. We conducted a critical,…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of…

Utah's population will become increasingly diverse in the coming decades. By 2065, the percent of minorities in Utah (age 18-35) will nearly double. There is already a postsecondary education enrollment and completion gap between minority populations and the white population at colleges and universities in the Utah System of Higher Education. If…

Utilizing surveillance data from five sites participating in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, we investigated contributions of surveillance subject and census tract population sociodemographic characteristics on variation in autism spectrum disorder ascertainment and prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2008 using ordinal…

Last year, the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) published an issue brief on Utah's Opportunity Gap. The 2019 report focused on the long-range impacts of shifting demographics within Utah's population on enrollments and completions within USHE. What the report failed to do is address the responsibility of the System to evaluate the ways in…

The population of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States continues to increase and there is a significant need to develop psychometrically sound early language and literacy screening measures to accurately capture children's ability in Spanish. In this paper, we describe the innovative design and calibration process of the new…