From the OC Register:
Local educators who work with Latino students and other underperforming minorities say the most effective way to combat this systemic problem is through early intervention, before the child even reaches kindergarten. That in itself is a challenge, though, because many Latino parents tend not to understand the importance of the early years of a child's development, said Virginia Mann, founder of a UC Irvine-based preschool intervention program that targets parents in Santa Ana. Consequently, these parents tend to set up their children for failure in school. "Young Latino parents have a lot of odd views - they believe they will hurt their children if they teach them Spanish, or they believe the TV will educate them because, oh, it's in English," said Mann, a UCI cognitive sciences professor and director of the Home Activities Building Language Acquisition program, or HABLA.

For the full story, please visit http://articles.ocregister.com/2011-07-08/news/29756590_1_achievement-ga...