HERE Center

Life Chances for Latina/o Youth

Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health’s M-RISP program, this grant was for empirical work that tracks four cohorts of adolescents whose parents are immigrants from Mexico but who (students) were born in the US: (1) 6th—8th grade high achieving students, (2) 6th—8th grade low achieving students, (3) 11th grade – 1 year beyond high school high achieving students, and (4) 11th grade – 1 year beyond high school low achieving students.

We followed 40 families for 3 years. We have analyzed 80 transcriptions for each time of measurement (40 families, adolescent and parent interviews = 400 interviews) and over 50 transcriptions of focus groups and interviews with teachers and counselors at the schools where we recruit our participants. Currently, the book has been developed to reach high school students and their parents as the narratives presented provide stories of success and crossroads that can be used for family decision-making.

Publications:

  • Saetermoe, C. L., Beneli, I., & Busch, R. M. (1999). Perceptions of Adulthood Among Anglo and Latino Parents. Current Psychology, 18(2), 21-34.
  • Saetermoe, C. L. (2008). Cultural Competence in Developmental Science Pedagogy. SRCD Developments, 51(4), 3.
  • Saetermoe, C. L., Pedraza, K., Zepeda, R., Estrada, K., Alcala, L., & Guzman, E. (resubmitting). ¡Oh, Si Puedo Ir a la Universidad! (Oh, Yes, We Can Go to College!) in English and Spanish, a book for families and students of middle and high school students based on an NIMH grant and illustrated by students from the originating school. Submitted to Guilford Press, now we’re looking for a literary agent for McGraw Hill or a larger audience.