Education Initiative at the Mauricio Gaston Institute

As part of Mauricio Gaston Institute directives since its inception in 1989, the education of Latinos in the commonwealth is one of its main initiatives. This initiative grew out of the concerns which Latinos in the community expressed as central -- The education of Latino youth and the role that parents, educators, community people have with respect to education. Since 1990, the Gaston has maintained such an initiative through conferences and symposia on educational policies, commissioned reports, presentations at schools and technical assistant support to community-based organizations, and the production of research reports, monographs and working papers on issues about the education of Latinos. A volume edited by Ralph Rivera and Sonia Nieto, on The Education of Latino Students in Massachusetts: Issues, Research, and Policy Implementation, appeared in 1993 and Sonia Nieto had a book party in 1993 for her book, Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education.

Since 1994, the direction of the education area expanded and is directed to the following areas:

Fund-raising and grant writing of educational projects which impact Latino populations in the Commonwealth.
Directing a cadre of educational researchers/scholars interested in pursuing individual and collaborative research projects. For 1995-1996 the group of researchers, scholars, has expanded to include teachers, parents, and community members who have chosen as their theme: The area of parent empowerment. The group is undergoing capacity-building and strategic planning.
Directing the Latino Leadership Opportunity Program which is funded by the Inter-University Program for Latino Research and the Ford Foundation. The LLOP pairs undergraduate students at UMASS-Boston with Latino Faculty who serve as mentors and support their work in research projects. The program has a structured curriculum which offers targeted seminars, support sessions, and reflective analysis of their progress. The program encourages students to pursue post-graduate education and academic careers.
Providing technical assistant to Boston Public Schools, community-based organizations and projects within the Latino community.
Conducting research in the areas of bilingual education, curriculum development, higher education and training in empowerment for Latino students and Latino parents as well as for teachers in the Boston Public Schools.
Publishing manuscripts, reports and best practice information on educational issues which affect Latinos. The Director of the Education Area is Martha Montero-Sieburth who holds a doctorate in Education in instructional development and administration with a concentration in bilingual education. Her expertise lies in curriculum theory and educational foundations, collaborative inquiry, teaching and learning, bilingual and multicultural education, international and comparative education, higher education, critical pedagogy, qualitative research methods, and developing educational systems (instructional materials and curricula) both in the U.S. and developing countries. The Regional Coordinator for the LLOP is Maria Quinones and the Coordinator for the Educational Research Group is Margarita Perez-Poles.