"Fracturing Opportunity" demonstrates a simple yet profound idea--that educational opportunity is learned. And if it is learned, then it can be taught and taught more equitably. This book brings sociocultural theories of learning and development to bear on the persistent problems of inequality in college access, and presents an innovative…

This book presents an ethnography of community efforts in Carpinteria, California, to bridge ethnic differences, empower parents, and improve education for the town's diverse student population. Located on the central California coast south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria has been home to generations of Mexican immigrants and their children. Over…

Many immigrant Latino families are settling in U.S. communities that previously had little Latino presence. Through case studies of such communities in Georgia, North Carolina, Maine, Colorado, Illinois, and Indiana, this book describes relations between host communities and newcomers, with particular focus on educational policy formation and…

The U.S.-Mexican border is an extensive geographical region that is socially and economically distinct from either the United States or Mexico. It has always been a multilingual and multicultural place. This book examines the social and cultural complexities of life in one small rural border town and its high school. Chapter 1 describes Havens,…

This book aims to provide a better understanding of Mexican American high school students and their struggles with ethnicity, Americanization, prejudice, schools, and life's purposes. In most Anglo minds, these students are characterized by exceptionally high dropout rates and poor school performance, without any explanation for this performance…

"Westhills" is a multiethnic coastal community in San Diego County, California, in which Mexican Americans comprise approximately 22 percent of the population. This book reports ethnographic research on a group of working-class Chicana adolescents in one Westhills barrio and their problems, school experiences, immersion in two…

This ethnography is about life in a small south Texas town painfully undergoing cultural and political change since the late 1960s. Since its inception, the Chicano civil rights movement has challenged local vestiges of racial segregation, and confrontation between Mexicanos and Anglos has created new tensions for the town's youth. This book…