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School leaders in small to mid-size urban districts face shifting policy environments, increased accountability, fiscal austerity, and unfunded mandates, as they work to improve student learning and close achievement gaps. This chapter focuses on one aspect of school reform: the role of families in supporting students’ success. Given shifting demographics nationwide, recommendations for two-way partnerships with Latino families will be proffered in light of renewed definitions and an increasingly robust research base.

To investigate the association between subjective dimensions of socioeconomic status and psychological distress, paying particular attention to Latino subgroup differences.

We used data from the Latino sample (N = 2,554) of the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). For our main analyses, we conducted a series of weighted multivariable linear regressions.

The results showed that subjective social status was associated with reduced psychological distress.

There are several key study limitations that warrant consideration. Chiefly, data utilized were cross-sectional; thus, it is unclear whether subjective socioeconomic status (SES) precedes or follows psychological distress.

Overall, our study makes several contributions to the sociological study of mental health differentials among Latinos. We show the importance of the association between subjective SES indicators and psychological distress. We also demonstrate how the associations analyzed in this study varied by Latino subethnicity, which we argue is an important step to fully understand the different social processes associated with the mental health of different Latina/o groups.

Purpose – This chapter examines the shift in political leadership from white ethnics and African-Americans to Hispanic/Latino representation in city-wide offices. Specifically, we explore the electoral coalition that Angel Taveras constructed to become Providence, Rhode Island’s first Latino mayor. This victory illustrates the continued strength of Hispanic/Latino political candidates in American politics.Design/method – Using public opinion survey data and a ward-by-ward analysis we provide a detailed breakdown of the type of voter Taveras appealed to and where these individuals reside.Findings – Taveras’s win was anchored in the upper-income, white liberal wards of the city. In addition, he won in the old Irish and Italian wards now inhabited by African-Americans and Hispanic/Latino voters. Overall, the significant growth of the Hispanic/Latino community in Providence from 30 percent in 2000 to 38 percent in 2010 was pivotal to his victory.Originality/value – This chapter provides an in-depth examination of how a Latino candidate won in a Northeastern city that had been dominated by Irish and Italian political leaders. The coalition that Taveras constructed highlights how Latinos appeal to liberal white voters. Finally, Taveras’s victory signals the continued political ascension and strength of the Hispanic/Latino community.

Scholars of race and work have shown that social categories shape how individuals interact with coworkers and clients. Social categories also inform the creation of roles within an organization when nonwhites are hired to interact with other nonwhites. This study examines these roles, or racialized labor, and illustrates how racial categories govern organizational behavior. By studying immigrant-serving providers at a range of nonprofits, this chapter shows how the assumed relationship between racial category and knowledge is evidence of ethnoracial logics, or the practice of using racial categories to organize work because of assumptions about the inherent racial ethnic knowledge an employee possesses. To make the case for these logics, the chapter draws on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with Latino, Latina, and White nonprofit professionals to show how expertise is developed and differentiated along racial lines.

Purpose – To provide a demographic portrait of Latinos in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Design/methodology/approach – This is a descriptive analysis using published results from the 2010 U.S. Census and authors’ tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey.

Findings – According to the 2010 U.S. Census, more than 700,000 Latinos lived in the Washington metropolitan area. In many ways, Washington's Latino population is unique when compared to Latino populations in other U.S. metropolitan areas. For example, unlike other metropolitan areas, no single Hispanic origin group is in the majority in Washington. And while the largest Hispanic origin group in other metropolitan areas is often of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Dominican origin, in the Washington metro area Salvadorans are the largest group. In other ways too, the Capital Region's Latino population is unique. It has the nation's largest Bolivian community. It has a greater share of immigrants than Latino populations in most other metropolitan areas. It has a higher share of college graduates among its Latino population than any other metropolitan area nationwide. And it is dynamic – growing fast and dispersing across the region.

Originality/value – This chapter provides a detailed demographic portrait of Latinos in the Washington, DC, area using the latest data sources available.

Purpose – Cory Booker will likely step down as mayor of Newark in 2014 or 2018. When he does, the possibility of a strong Latino candidate emerging is quite likely. There are a number of black politicians who would like to succeed Booker as well. This chapter identifies eight potential successors to Booker and assesses their ability to create a multiracial electoral coalition using prior vote performance in citywide elections.Design/methodology/approach – This study regresses district (or precinct) level vote preferences for the aforementioned potential successors in previous elections on the racial and ethnic composition of the district, using voter district demographic data from 2000 and 201011The 2010 data is still incomplete at the time of publication. As such, this data will be used sparingly. compiled by the US Census Bureau and the Minnesota Population Center.Findings − There is a decade’s worth of evidence suggesting racially polarized voting among blacks and Latinos in Newark. The racialized black and Latino candidates examined in this chapter had much stronger support in districts with large coethnic populations. In contrast, the more deracialized candidates often had softer support in districts with high concentrations of coethnic voters, but often performed better in districts with higher concentrations of non-coethnics.Originality/value − While the author cautions against reading too much into the findings, the results do portend a future of racially polarized voting in Newark, especially as the city’s population diversifies and as different factions vie for power.

Past studies have shown that acculturation has been linked with media consumption (Shi, 2005; Shohat & Stam, 1996). Some risky health behaviors are associated with immigrants’ acculturation into the American society. In this study, we investigate the association between Latino adolescents’ recreational use of media with acculturation as related to risky health behaviors such as the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, the experience of getting sunburns, smoking, and drinking alcohol.

Regression models were run to analyze the Latino adolescent subsample (aged 12–17) of the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (Ponce et al., 2004).

The regression models show that weekend television and video gaming are significantly associated with the number of sunburns one had in the past year (incident rate ratio = 1.008, z = 2.73), and weekend recreational computer use is significantly associated with the number of cans of soda with sugar one drank during the previous day (incident rate ratio = 1.003, z = 2.09). The use of English for the interview, age, parents’ educational attainment, household size, and gender are also found to be associated with different acculturation-related risky health behaviors investigated in this study.

This study is the first to analyze media consumption’s association with sunburn among Latino adolescents. Our findings indicate that among Latino adolescents in the United States, a large amount of media consumption can lead to risky health behaviors that were not common in Latin America. Therefore, parents should heed possible behavioral consequences when they decide on the amount of media exposure children have.

Despite the challenges Latino males face throughout their educational experience, promising practices exist to enhance their academic success (Sáenz & Ponjuan, 2011). This chapter addresses factors that commonly hinder the educational opportunities of Latino males, and it pinpoints those supportive factors that help advance their educational progress. Recommendations are provided to assist in increasing the identification of gifted Latino males and their participation in gifted education. Educational practice and policy recommendations are also offered.