ABSTRACT The high percentage and the steady growth of Hispanic/Latino students in Arizona demand that special attention be placed on improving academic achievement and attainment. The need to support Hispanic/Latino parents in becoming meaningful positive contributors to their children's schooling continues to surface as a critical issue in school improvement efforts in many Arizona districts. American Dream Academy, part of the Center for Community Development and Civil Rights at Arizona State University, has aimed to address this critical issue. Their focus has been to change Latino parents' beliefs about, knowledge of, and behaviors related to their children's education from pre-kindergarten to the post-secondary level. The Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model, Realizing the American Dream, for parental involvement was the basis for the design of the curriculum used by the American Dream Academy. The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficacy of the American Dream Academy in changing the beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors of parents. The data sources were demographic and pre- and post-academy surveys taken by 719 parents representing 42 Title 1 school districts throughout Maricopa County, Arizona during the spring semester of 2012. Two tailed t tests and the significant p values revealed statistically significant changes after participation in the academy for each one of the survey statement constructs, beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors. A computation of the effect sizes using Cohen's d revealed that there were moderate to large effect sizes for each of the constructs. The knowledge construct had the largest effect size. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed that the gains for each construct were positively correlated with each of the other constructs and that the relationships were statistically significant. The significant effects of the American Dream Academy's curriculum were considerable in changing parents' beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors as to pre-kindergarten and post-secondary education. Of special notice is the effect that the academy had on parents' knowledge of how to help their children as they navigate through the United States' educational system. It is recommended that school districts partner with the American Dream Academy in efforts to engage parents in meaningful participation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an alignment exists between the mission of Puente de Hozho Magnet School and the visualization of how current Navajo students view their education at the school. Qualitative research was used as an opportunity to explore the significance and to gain an in-depth understanding of how Navajo students view their education in the context of their personal experiences. The population consisted of six Navajo fifth grade students who lived outside the boundaries of their Indian reservation and attended school at Puente de Hozho Magnet School. The six student participants were asked to respond to the question, "What does your education look like at Puente de Hozho Magnet School?" through the pictures they took with a camera in and around the school. After the pictures were developed, students were individually interviewed by utilizing selected pictures to prompt their memory in eliciting descriptions and meanings of the images they captured. The students' responses generated a data set for coding and analysis, from which a wealth of data yielded prominent themes as to their education at Puente de Hozho Magnet School. Analysis of this research concluded that the students' visualization of their education at Puente de Hozho is aligned with the original mission and vision of the school. The student voices represent a relationship of natural connections to their cultural heritage as experienced in their school by disregarding stereotypes and rising above the expected.

The purpose of the research study was to explore the perceptions of Navajo mothers and Navajo fathers in the development and childrearing practices of their children and to what extent each parent was involved in their children by gender and age. The objective of the interviews was to capture the perceptions of each parent as to child development and childrearing practices as well as the beliefs that they have on parental involvement. In the current study, the interviews provided information regarding attitudes and perceptions of parental involvement from the Navajo mothers and the Navajo fathers who participated in the study. By using probing questions, deeper insights into the understanding and perceptions of parental involvement were obtained.