ELRC Presentations
Abstract
During adolescence, many families begin preparing for their child’s transition to adulthood by focusing on their academic success. Families from Latino backgrounds who live in rural counties often lack the resources and have limited access to community supports to help their child successfully navigate this developmental period. Community-based organizations can support Latino families by building their students’ academic skills and awareness in a learning environment designed to foster belongingness at school, at home and in their community. To understand how programs strive to build these assets, eleven program leaders from an academic success program, who were primarily female (n = 11) and from Latino backgrounds (n = 7), were invited to participate in a focus group about their experiences supporting Latino students, and the degree that programs can foster desirable outcomes at the student, familial, program and community levels. Drawing from the perspectives of developmental systems theory and community capacity development, focus groups were analyzed using the lens of constructivism. Participants communicated that the program helped build a supportive network of caring adults and peers, offered an avenue to deliver quality academic programming for youth, and enabled families to build skills to support their child’s academic success. The program also created a space for participants to build a sense of community and a place for outside organizations to contribute to their shared aims. Leaders indicated that as a member of the local Latino community, the opportunity to serve youth was personally beneficial as it supported their own growth and wellbeing. This project demonstrates the value of a multidisciplinary team that creates opportunities for collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and community members to understand how to better support Latino youth and families to promote academic social justice.
Keywords
Latino youth, rural education, community capacity development, academic success program
Date of this Version
8-2025
Recommended Citation
McDavid, Lindley; VonDielingen, Heather; and Mull, Casey D., "Supporting Personal, Familial, Academic, and Community Assets in Latino Youth through Connectedness" (2025). ELRC Presentations. Paper 5.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dlcpre/5
Comments
This poster was presented at the annual APA conference in 2025.
Citation: McDavid L., VonDielingon, H., & Mull, C. D. (2025, August 7-9). Supporting Personal, Familial, Academic, and Community Assets in Latino Youth through Connectedness [poster]. Annual American Psychological Association Conference. Denver, Colorado.