Science and Math in Spanish Language Media

Research Questions: (1) To what extent do children's and parent's interest in math and science increase as a result of exposure to one or more of the project's components? (2) To what extent do children and parents want to engage further with Mateo y Cientina after initial exposure to the cartoon through one or more of the project's components? (3) To what extent do parents and children think they've learned new concepts about math and science as a result of completing a Mateo y Cientina activity? (4) To what extent do parents and children gain confidence in their understanding of math and science as a result of completing a Mateo y Cientina activity? (5) To what extent do new media outlets promote the cartoons and/or math and science learning? (6) To what extent do class leaders enhance their ability to work with parents and children? Findings: (1) Overall, the three sites engaged the Spanish-speaking community differently: LHS in San Francisco Bay Area/San Jose and CMH in Houston brought project resources directly to the communities whereas MSM in Miami sought to bring the families into the science center. Despite the different models, the Project Directors from the three regions considered the classes the program's strongest component. (2) Classes and festivals succeeded in attracting Spanish-speaking individuals and families to engage with the project's math and science activities, although classes were slightly more successful than festivals. (3) While we don't know about cartoon engagement through the publications, we did learn that many family members engaged with the cartoons that were distributed at local shops, libraries, schools, and community centers in San Francisco Bay Area/San Jose. (4) Class and festival participants were as enthusiastic in their reactions to the Mateo y Cientina activities as the instructors with 87% of class respondents and 76% of festival respondents saying they liked the activities "a lot." (5) Across all national sites, instructors delivered quality instruction and felt like they were making a difference in the lives of parents and children. (6) As a result of attending a family involvement class, 99% of parents said they would spend more time doing math or science with their children; the other 1% said "maybe." (7) The majority of all surveyed participants from the classes (94%) and schools (80%), felt they learned "some" or "a lot" from completing a project activity. When asked what parents and children learned from Mateo y Cientina and in what ways they were able to connect the new material with prior knowledge, responses were aligned with the constructs intended by the cartoon's creators. Implications for Practice: (1) Throughout the project there was a strong interest in using educational cartoons to promote informal learning in mathematics and science. Further expansion of such efforts warrants attention and discussion. (2) Multi-ethnic media (newspapers, radio, tv) is still an untapped resource for disseminating news stories related to mathematics and science and its relevancy to enhancing a child's education. (3) There is much to be learned about establishing and maintaining partnerships between communities and informal or formal educational institutions. Building trust and communicating with centers of influence in any community is at the heart of any collaboration. The appendix of this report includes survey interments, an observation protocol, and interview guies.