Existing measures of belonging in schools do not explicitly elevate the contextual and cultural insights of the educators and students they were designed to assess. Our study addresses this shortcoming through the co-creation of an Opportunities to Belong survey measure for urban middle schoolers. The tool was developed in partnership with…

In this qualitative research study we illustrate how implicit biases held by college personnel hinders the educational success of Latino men attending urban community colleges in Texas. In particular, we identify how often well-intentioned educators are (un)aware of how often they perpetrate racial microaggressions against Latino men. Interviews…

Often without guidance in completing college-related tasks, first-generation students face unique challenges during the summer before college. This case study investigates this critical time period by studying a cohort of 33 newly graduated students from the same urban, public high school. Guided by social capital, college readiness, and…

We examined the high school experiences of 133 African American, Latina/o, and biracial college students through employing a mixed methods concurrent nested design, including survey analysis and qualitative content analysis, to identify themes and the extent school counselors provided assistance with promoting academic and college readiness. The…

Mexican American students constitute the largest group of Latina/os in the United States and have been subjected to a number of educational and social injustices, particularly with relation to how their cultural and linguistic assets are viewed within public schools. This qualitative case study considers culturally responsive leadership in a…

Discussions on Latino/a students' interpretation of the opportunity structure and schooling treat racial/ethnic identification among Latino/as as static, despite skin color variation. This article provides findings from interviews with six Mexican students who discussed teachers identifying them as "White-looking" or…

This article describes a research study using an ethnographic approach and sociocultural theory with a spatial perspective to explore the ways that two Latino children, with the mediation of their families, constructed literacy spaces in their homes and communities. The families lived in low-income neighborhoods, and their school district was…

This study examined the ability of Transformative Professional Development (TPD) to transform science teacher quality and associated impact on science achievement, including particular focus on English Language Learners (ELL). TPD was implemented in a large, low-performing, urban district in the southwest with predominantly Latino ELL populations.…

Parental involvement in education has been associated with a number of positive outcomes for students. Using a mixed-methods approach, the authors examine how role construction and self-efficacy (psychological motivators), invitations (contextual motivators), and life contexts influence a parent's decision to become involved within the context of…