Research | Susana BeltranGrimm

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Latine Families, Play, and Resistance in Times of Fear

This mixed-methods research project examines how immigration-related policies and sociopolitical conditions shape Latine parents’ emotional well-being, parenting, and play-based learning practices with young children. Building on a completed bilingual pilot study with Latine families across the US. This project combines large-scale quantitative surveys with in-depth qualitative interviews to document how families navigate fear while cultivating resilience, safety, and belonging through everyday practices such as play and storytelling. Funded by APA Division 15.

Role of Oral Language in Mathematics Learning: A Study of Bilingual Latine Families and Children

I received the NAEd and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation EMERG Grant to use a mixed-method approach within a qualitative framework, the project includes an ethnographic study complemented by the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system. This approach aims to intricately map and analyze the language environments of Latine parent-child pairs. Central to this research is exploring how culturally specific language practices in bilingual Latine households shape their children’s mathematics learning. It investigates the dynamics of bilingual language use and interaction patterns during math-related activities at home.

Families as Co-designers of a Family Math Activity Kit

Drawing on insights from my prior community-based and participatory research with Latine families, I am collaboratively creating a family math activity toolkit grounded in families’ everyday practices, values, and funds of knowledge. Through co-design sessions, family workshops, and iterative prototyping, caregivers and children work alongside the research team to shape math activities, materials, and facilitation guides that are meaningful, accessible, and responsive to family contexts. This toolkit is designed to support joyful, relational math engagement at home while offering educators and community partners adaptable resources that honor families’ expertise and lived experiences.