Janine M. Schall , Elena Venegas, Veronica Estrada, Leticia De Leon

1. Understanding the Language and Literacy Practices of Latinx Teacher Candidates at a Hispanic-Serving College of Education Janine M. Schall, Elena Venegas, Veronica Estrada, Leticia De Leon University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

2. Language and literacy practices shape people’s identities and how they exist in the world and plays an essential role in academic achievement, especially at the post-secondary level. Yet we know little about the language and literacy practices of Latinx teacher candidates. This session shares information about how Latinx students in a teacher preparation program at a Hispanic-Serving College of Education use language and literacy practices to navigate their personal, academic, and work lives. Abstract

3. Language and literacy practices shape people’s identities and how they exist in the world and plays an essential role in academic achievement, especially at the post-secondary level. • We know little about the language and literacy practices of Latinx teacher candidates. • We tell ourselves stories about our students, but what is true? What do they think about their own language and literacies? Purpose

4. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) “…any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose mission was, and is, the education of black Americans…” (The Higher Education Act of 1965) • Tribal colleges and universities are institutions that are controlled and operated by American Indian tribes and serve that population. • The recognition of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and targeted appropriation of federal funds did not occur until 1992, after decades of advocacy efforts to ensure recognition and access to resources by institutions that serve a large number of Latinx students (Valdez, 2015). Hispanic Serving Institutions

5. Hispanic Serving Institution is… An institution of higher education that: • is an eligible institution; and • has an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application (U S Department of Education, n.d.) Hispanic Serving Institutions

6. In 2017 492 institutions were designated as HSIs, enrolling 2,075,317 Latinx students. An additional 323 are considered emerging HSIs, i.e., institutions that have an undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment of Latinx students ranging between 15 to 24% (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities). • Although HSIs comprise only 14.9% of non-profit colleges and universities, they enroll 24.5% of all students and 63% of all Latinx students. • HSIs are highly diverse and serve a variety of missions (Nuñez, Crisp & Elizondo, 2016). • Research suggests that many HSIs ignore or at least do not identify with their HSI status (Contreras, et al, 2008; Garcia & Dwyer, 2018; Santiago, 2012). • As is not unusual for HSIs, the college experience is often traditional, meaning it was designed to fit white, middle class university students (Garcia, 2018; Ledesma & Burciaga, 2015). Hispanic Serving Institutions

7. Garcia (2017) posits the need to examine what it means to be an HSI through the lens of organizational identity. She proposes four categories to meaningfully distinguish HSIs: • Hispanic enrolling: an HSI which has enrollment but does not produce equitable outcomes such as graduation rates or have a culture for supporting Latinx students; • Hispanic producing: an HSI which has enrollment and produces equitable outcomes for Latinx students; • Hispanic enhancing: an HSI which has enrollment and enhances educational experiences of Latinx students but does not produce equitable outcomes; and, • Hispanic serving: an HSI which has enrollment, produces equitable outcomes, enhances educational experiences, and provides a welcoming environment for Latinx students. Hispanic Serving Institutions

8. Literacy development is complex, multi-dimensional, and culturally-based: it involves reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, visually representing both print and other kinds of text. Literacy also represents linguistic intelligence (Gipe, 2014; Alvermann, D. E., Gillis, V. R., & Phelps, S. F., 2013). • Literacy includes multiple literacies that focus on what literacy events and practices mean to users in different cultural and social contexts. • Language and literacy practices shape people’s identities and how they exist in the world (Jimenez, 2000; Moll, 2014). • Language and literacy practices go beyond text to include the ability to communicate using networks, interpret media, evaluate digital data, and navigate the tools that make this possible (US Digital Literacy, 2016). Language and Literacy of University Students

9. What are CEP student perceptions regarding the language and literacy practices they use to navigate their personal, work and academic lives? Question

10. Survey developed and validated: Anonymous, self-administered, web-based, cross-sectional survey (Ruel, Wagner, & Gillespie, 2016) to all declared education majors enrolled in the university. • A cross-sectional survey facilitates descriptive research with the intent of “examin[ing] a situation by describing important factors associated with that situation, such as demographic, socio-economic, and health characteristics, events, behaviours, attitudes, experiences, and knowledge” (Kelley et al., p. 261). • Survey deployed to 2,053 declared undergraduate education majors at a HSCOE: 16% response rate • Data disaggregated by groups • 333 total participants • 328 identified as ‘Hispanic or Latino’ Methodology

11. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is a region along the U.S./Mexico border in South Texas. • The majority of the population is of Mexican heritage • An area of rich linguistic resources • Strongly supportive of education and fiercely proud of its linguistic and cultural heritage. • One of the poorest regions of the United States, with educational and economic indicators lagging the rest of Texas and the United States. • Historically underserved and often overlooked, undervalued, or misunderstood by those outside of the RGV. • Approximately 2,700 students in College of Education. Of those, 95.53% are from a four-county area within the RGV and 90.6% identify as Latinx. • One of the largest teacher preparation programs in Texas. Most graduates stay in the RGV. Research Context

12. Research Context

13. Self-Reported Demographics of Latinx Students

14. Three broad themes: • Language and power • Attitudes towards literacy and self-perceptions of literacy knowledge • Movement and transformation Findings

15. Findings: Language and Power

16. Findings: Language and Power

17. Findings: Language and Power

18. Findings: Attitudes Towards Literacy and Self-perceptions of Literacy Knowledge

19. Findings: Attitudes Towards Literacy and Self-perceptions of Literacy Knowledge

20. Findings: Attitudes Towards Literacy and Self-perceptions of Literacy Knowledge

21. Findings: Attitudes Towards Literacy and Self-perceptions of Literacy Knowledge

22. Findings: Movement and Transformation

23. Findings: Movement and Transformation

24. Findings: Movement and Transformation

25. Findings: Movement and Transformation

26. Findings: Movement and Transformation

27. Important to ask for and listen to student perspectives about their own lives and what they need • Don’t trust what 'everyone knows' • Students have a rich and varied literate life; this is an asset to build upon. • We need to design programs that fit who our students are and not do things because that's the way they've always been done • Follow up needed; focus groups and comparison to other populations Discussion

28. Dr. Janine M. Schall, janine.schall@utrgv.edu Dr. Elena Venegas, elena.venegas@utrgv.edu Dr. Veronica Estrada, veronica.estrada@utrgv.edu Dr. Leticia de Leon, leticia.deleon@utrgv.edu Questions?