Federal and Arizona educational policies challenge U.S.-Mexico border educators to meet the diverse needs of bilingual, bicultural students while also being required to use instructional pedagogies that offer monolingual and monocultural schooling experiences. Ethnographic research captures American schooling experiences of Latino…

This case study outlines the struggle for desegregation and the adoption of culturally responsive curricula in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) as it attempted to balance state politics and federal court oversight. The case offers a detailed illustration of the political and legal events that led up to the adoption, elimination, and…

The Arizona legislature passed HB 2281, which eliminated Tucson Unified School District's (TUSD's) Mexican American Studies (MAS) program, arguing the curriculum was too political. This program has been at the center of contentious debates, but a central question has not been thoroughly examined: Do the classes raise student achievement? The…

A study examining Latina parents' perspectives about their children's mathematics education invited three mothers to observe three middle-school reform mathematics classrooms and discuss their observations. The parents noted and approved of new roles for teachers and students, such as walking around the room, listening to students, and cooperative…

Among over 600 Arizona students in grades 1-8 in maintenance bilingual programs, fluent Spanish-speaking students outperformed limited-Spanish-speaking students on a measure of Spanish reading, mathematics, social studies, and science achievement; girls achieved higher reading scores than boys; and 16 of 18 grade mean scores were equal to or…

Finds that 25 Spanish-dominant Mexican-American students in a transitional bilingual program for grades one-three maintained Spanish reading achievement scores above national norms, and had English reading scores that equaled or surpassed those of 118 English-dominant Mexican-American students in regular classes. Contains 28 references. (SV)

To explore the relationship of four sets of factors on Mexican American and Anglo American students' desire to take science courses (enjoyment of science, grades, importance of science, and self image), data were gathered from ninth grade students at three high schools in southern Arizona, by using questionnaires for students and interviews with…

The accomplishments of Mexican American students have been limited by the level of education completed and by concentration in particular occupations. As part of a larger research project concerning this problem, 259 eighth grade students from Tucson were compared on the basis of sex and ethnicity, with a focus on attitudes toward science. No…

School boards associations in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas commissioned this report about K-12 education along La Frontera, the United States/Mexico border, to identify common issues and target policymaking and assistance efforts. Data were obtained from a research review and interviews and surveys of superintendents and school board…