The purpose of this study was to address the gap in the current literature on community college students in basic math courses by examining motivational, parental and cultural factors as predictors of achievement and persistence of students enrolled in basic skills mathematics courses at a community college. More specifically, this study investigated the degree to which mathematics self-efficacy, self-regulation, and parenting style predict achievement and persistence of community college students in prealgebra and elementary algebra. For Hispanics in particular, an additional variable of acculturation was considered. Participants included 390 community college students enrolled in a basic skills math course. Participants completed a paper-and-pencil survey consisting of demographic background information, the self-efficacy and self-regulation subscales of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, the Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics. Results suggest that both math self-efficacy and self-regulation are important influences on achievement and persistence in a basic skills math course. Math self-efficacy and regulation of time and study environment were found to be the most significant predictor variables for achievement and persistence of community college students in a basic skills math course. Caucasian students earned significantly higher grades in their basic skills math courses as well as reported having higher levels of self-regulation of their time and study environment than did their Hispanic counterparts. Math self-efficacy and regulation of time and study environment were found to be the most significant predictor variables for achievement by Hispanic students in a basic skills math course. Lastly, while acculturation to the dominant culture for Hispanic students correlated significantly with math self-efficacy, metacognitive regulation, effort regulation, and authoritative parenting, it explained a small percentage of the variance in math self-efficacy, effort regulation and authoritative parenting. Results of this study emphasize the importance of community college math faculty understanding motivational principles. Specifically, implications for practice include community college math faculty learning and implementing strategies to strengthen their students' math self-efficacy and improve the students' regulation of time and study environment. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]