Suburban schoolchildren of color, in the aggregate, do not perform as well as their white counterparts. In fact, the academic achievement gaps in many suburban communities are actually greater than those in urban school districts. This research brief looks at the achievement gap in suburban schools, offering preliminary answers to the following…

For over a decade, Latino immigrants, especially those of Mexican origin, have been at the heart of the immigration debate and have borne the brunt of conservative populism. Contributing factors to the public reaction to immigrants in general and Latinos specifically include the sheer size of recent immigration, the increasing prevalence of…

Passed in November 1994, California's Proposition 187 was intended to deny public school education and health care to undocumented immigrants and their children. The rhetoric of current anti-immigrant hysteria has shifted from that of recent decades and relies on both racist and sexist imagery. This narrative shift, with its emphasis on women and…

The participation of parents in their children's education has positive impacts on school achievement, yet minority parental participation is decreasing. Parents and teachers have different perceptions of what constitutes parental participation. School personnel often misread the reserve, nonconfrontational manners, and noninvolvement of Hispanic…

Latinos are moving out of historically Hispanic communities in Texas and Florida and relocating in the deep South. This demographic change can disrupt social patterns, add tension to social relations, and change the character of social institutions such as schools. Population projections indicate school enrollment for Whites will decrease and…

Women are a rapidly growing group of people with AIDS in the United States, and Hispanic/Latina and African American women are disproportionately represented. This paper reviews the literature on the epidemiology of AIDS/HIV infection among Latina women, children, and adolescents and discusses the needs of Latinas regarding AIDS prevention…

Describes and analyzes the establishment of Chicano voluntary associations in California from 1910 to 1930. Refutes early research supporting prejudicial Hispanic stereotypes. Examines how political and social forces produced complex networks of voluntary organizations aiding ethnic consciousness and immigrant and migrant assimilation. Focuses on…

Reviews major issues germane to the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case. Discusses the second wave of Texas standards-based reform that would institutionalize retention for students failing a state-mandated achievement test, proposed federal legislation limiting use of high stakes tests, and psychometric and policy lessons learned from…

Very little is known about body satisfaction among minority children. This study examined the relationship between perceived and actual body size and Body Mass Index among 43 low-socioeconomic Hispanic 3rd-graders. Researchers measured participants' Body Mass Index; students self-reported Perceived Ideal Self Image and Perceived Actual Self Image…

Purpose: Parent satisfaction with their children's school is an important issue in today's competitive educational environment characterized by school choice and government standards; however, few empirical studies address school satisfaction similarities and differences among parents from different ethnic groups. The purpose of this paper is to…

Oak View School, Huntington Beach (California) is reflective of demographic changes due to the rapid increase in the number of ethnic minority students. The school has created goals for quality education for immigrant and minority children and is attempting to respond to the needs of its culturally diverse, although largely Hispanic, population.…

Representing part of the first phase of a 5-year ethnographic research project, this report investigates the ways in which Puerto Rican families influence their children's school achievement. The report examines the history of Puerto Rico and the migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States. Puerto Rican community organizations, both local and…

Hispanics are a diverse group with considerable differences in country of origin, social class, race, educational status, and level of assimilation. Nonetheless, what does characterize all the major groups except the Cubans, albeit in varying intensities, are high levels of poverty and low levels of educational achievement. Cultural differences…

Recent evidence suggests that low-income, inner-city parents favor school choice. African-American and Latino parents' preferences regarding choice were analyzed. Inner-city parents' school choices occur within a context constrained by Anglo and middle-class strategies of containment. The paper examines minority dissatisfaction with the public…

El Arco Iris is a supplementary pre-school program for Hispanic 4- and 5-year-old children and their parents. The Brownsville (Texas) Independent School District operates the program. Ninety-five percent of the kindergarten children in this district begin school speaking little or no English and median family incomes are among the lowest in the…