119 Lokey Education Bldg
1571 Alder St.
UO campus
Lunch provided
Educational Methodology, Policy and Leadership (EMPL) is pleased to announce the colloquium “Miles de Manos: Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of an Evidence-Informed Youth Violence Prevention Program for Central America,” with Dr. Charles Martinez, University of Oregon, Professor and Department Head
The countries of Central America provide a compelling lens through which to examine educational and social systems at their most challenged. Devastated by decades of civil wars, natural disasters, and economic paralysis, as well as military, social, and drug trafficking violence, many Central American countries face enormous challenges as they strive to develop and sustain educational systems for their children. Yet, many of the schools in communities in Central America also include tremendous strengths, not the least of which is deep caring and love for children, and commitment to improve conditions for the next generation.
This presentation will discuss emerging results and the process of developing and implementing “Miles de Manos,” a culturally specific youth violence prevention program, in four countries in Central America. The talk will address strategies for scaling up and disseminating evidence-based practices in diverse contexts, approaches to measurement and outcome evaluation in international dissemination, and the natural tensions between fidelity and local adaptation in implementation efforts.
BIOSKETCH
Dr. Charles R. Martinez, Jr. is a clinical psychologist, professor, and department head in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Oregon, where he also directs the Center for Equity Promotion. He served as the University of Oregon Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity from 2005 to 2011, and also served as a senior scientist at the non-profit Oregon Social Learning Center where he founded and directed the center’s Latino Research Team beginning in 1999. He has served as a publicly elected member of the Eugene, District 4J School Board and is currently serving as a Governor appointed member of the Oregon State Board of Education representing Oregon’s 4th congressional district.
His substantive interests center on identifying factors that promote healthy adjustment for families and children following stressful life events, (e.g. changes in family structure, socioeconomic status, physical and/or emotional health, acculturation, and immigration status), taking into consideration the cultural contexts in which families operate. He has led numerous NIH and internationally funded research projects designed to examine risk and protective factors involved in linking acculturation to education and behavioral health outcomes for Latino children and families and to develop and test culturally specific interventions for at-risk families in the U.S. and in Latin America. His main areas of published work include substantive and methodological topics related to cultural issues in prevention science, Latino education and behavioral health disparities, links between acculturation and discrimination on substance use and academic
failure prevention, culturally specific family based interventions, the role of biosocial stress markers on family outcomes, and family process.
He is a nationally known consultant on organizational diversity issues, cross-cultural research, and community engagement. He teaches courses in equity, multicultural education, leading for diversity, prevention science, and Latino family health and education. Dr. Martinez has received numerous national, state, and local awards for his work, including the “Community, Culture, and Prevention Science Award” and the “International Collaborative Prevention Research Award” from the Society for Prevention Research.