This qualitative study examined the perspectives of Black and Latino high school and undergraduate students involved in an aspirational peer mentoring program for college access. Our findings identified five central themes that contributed to the development of social capital for participants: program expectations and experiences, sustaining…

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and challenges that emerged from the first 3 years of a high school student leadership development program located in an urban setting. This study was developed as an instrumental case study of one student leadership development program serving urban public high schools in South Central…

As California is one of the primary states with the highest influx of Latinxs, the rise of Latinx enrollment in California high schools calls to the importance of understanding methods to increase academic and overall wellness. Cultural congruity (i.e., match of one's cultural values with those of the educational setting) is hypothesized to…

Despite the broader academic gains experienced by Hispanic students, who represent the largest minority group in the United States, they remain the least educated of all major ethnic groups, and our understanding of their academic needs and strengths remains woefully inadequate. Therefore, this study examined the risk (e.g., sexual risk taking)…

There are two, related types of college readiness: (a) cognitive--students' test scores and grades and (b) noncognitive--students' academic mind-sets, behaviors, and motivation. This study uses an ethnographic approach to examine how an afterschool program for Latina/o high school youth fosters noncognitive factors of college readiness. Based on…

This article emphasizes the role of parental involvement in the college preparation of Latino elementary and secondary school students. Although literature shows that education is highly valued in Latino families, actual college enrollment rates for Latino youth are below average. This has been attributed to barriers including lack of financial…

Many scholars have found that student--teacher relationships are an integral part to student success in schools. The quality of relationships has implications for student engagement and performance. The most successful student-teacher relationships have characteristics of the ethic of care. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the…

Prior research suggests that parents of Hispanics, English learners, and students living in poverty exercise school choice less frequently than other parents, which may be a factor in the resegregation of public schools. This quasi-experimental, causal-comparative design tests whether ethnicity, language dominance, or socioeconomic status of the…

Chicanos/Latinos comprise the largest racial and ethnic population in the U.S. public K-12 schools, yet hold some of the largest rates of academic underperformance in high school and college completion. This study aims at understanding the academic trajectories of five Chicano/Latino males and their decision to enlist in the military after high…

Many Latino students miss opportunities to develop their full potential in U.S. schools. Increasing attention is being paid to the malleable, nonacademic, factors that can affect student learning. The current study sought to evaluate the impact of school climate on Language Arts grade for Latino students in a large, low-income, urban middle…

Sewall County, located in metropolitan Atlanta, and its public school system experienced significant demographic change between 2000 and 2010. The population doubled, reaching more than 200,000 residents, and its percentage of White residents fell by 25% to just more than 55%. Its public school system is now considered majority-minority. Using the…

Racial minority youth are disproportionally removed from their learning environment due to school discipline and placed in special education for emotional disturbance. These disparities continue to trouble families, educators, and policy makers, particularly within urban schools. Yet there is a paucity of research on how behavioral outcome…

Nationwide, place-based initiatives aiming to improve school and community outcomes are in the midst of neighborhood demographic change. We explore this issue through a case study of the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN). We discuss how the social and educational context of MPN poses several challenges to implementing Promise Neighborhood…

While a significant portion of Latino immigrant youth are failing to meet their academic potential, many others have been able to acquire the resources needed to excel academically. This study examined social capital assets (i.e., parent and teacher supports) for school engagement and trouble avoidance among a sample of recently arrived, non-U.S.…

We compared the performance of Hispanic students from California, Texas, and Arizona on the two Advanced Placement (AP) English exams (i.e., English Language and Composition and English Literature and Composition) using archival data from the College Board from 1997 through 2012. Pearson chi-square tests yielded statistically significant…