Focus on Impact: CCA Alliance

Direct parental involvement in education can play a great positive role in providing role models and leadership for their children; yet many Hispanic parents are not involved at all due to “language difficulties, cultural differences, and lack of knowledge about the educational opportunities that exist for their children. Many [also] feel intimidated and outstripped by their children’s far-superior English and computer skills.” If parents could be brought into schools for adult education programs, not only could they gain valuable skills, but they would also help to guide children back into the classroom. In the CCA Program, adults come in for 96 hours of Spanish-language computer classes over 16 weeks at their childrens’ schools, starting with 12 hours of “life skills” and then moving on into a survey of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other essential aspects of computer literacy for today’s job market.

Because they’re taking classes at their childrens’ schools, CCA Program parents “acquire computer skills that enable them to look for better jobs, help their children with schoolwork, and model behaviors important for success.” It’s an indirect approach to the problem, but one that has proven its efficacy time and again. Jose-Pablo Fernandez brought the program over from Mexico in 2002 in collaboration with Monterrey Tech, as a United States branch of their highly successful Community Learning Centers program. Since then, it has blossomed rapidly from 12 adults at a Houston community center to being an officially sponsored effort in nine Houston school districts in 2004 to 110 centers in several cities by 2006. By that point, Fernandez decided to devote his full time and attention to bringing the CCA Program to scale nationwide, establishing CCA Alliance, Inc in early 2007. Their latest goal is to reach 16,000 parents a year by 2011 – an achievement whose ripple effects will be systemic, as each parent involved inspires children back into the school system.