Language learning and the development of language proficiency are central concerns in the study of immigrant adaptation. This paper analyzes the social construction of language proficiency among Indigenous Guatemalan Maya youth in the United States--specifically, undocumented young adults who migrated to Los Angeles, California as unaccompanied…

Participation in extracurricular activities has been associated with enhanced academic achievement in Latino youth. Based on a longitudinal case study of one immigrant adolescent, this article finds that athletic participation is in itself neither a wholly positive or negative influence on Latino school achievement. Rather, effects of…

The authors consider the implications of speaking out and remaining silent in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They reflect on the forms of speech available to and expected of educators and educational anthropologists in order to raise questions about whose voices are heard or ignored in the current public discourse. Drawing…

We examined the accounts of Latino immigrant parent's perceptions of the contributions they made to their children's educational persistence. A community cultural wealth model was used and our results indicated that aspirational capital was the most common form of capital reported, while parents frequently demonstrated linguistic capital for…

The purpose of the present case study was to explore fourth-grade dual language learners' interactions with culturally relevant children's literature. The present study involved observations of six second- and third-generation immigrant students participating in read-aloud sessions with the teacher reading the text and the students responding…

Familism values promote the positive adaptation of Latinx youth, but few studies have examined potential indirect effects associated with these positive effects. In emerging immigrant communities, where fewer resources are available to youth and families to maintain cultural values and ties, familism may be especially important. In this study of…

Scholars and policy makers alike are increasingly interested in understanding how social capital shapes people's economic lives. But the idea of social capital is an amorphous one. In this article, economists Judy Hellerstein and David Neumark define social capital as networks of relationships among people who are connected by where they live or…

We sought to determine whether pediatric primary care interventions targeting positive parenting among low socioeconomic status mothers resulted in reduced referrals to the New York City Early Intervention Program (NYC-EIP). Participants in Building Blocks (BB) and the Video Interaction Project (VIP) were linked with the NYC-EIP administrative…

To provide examples of culturally responsive practices used by leaders of a rural Latinx-serving youth program, this case study focused on a community youth program in a small, rural Midwestern town. Program leaders (one White man and one Latinx woman) were both middle-aged and had postsecondary degrees. Nine Latinx youth participants (four girls,…

This three-study dissertation investigated how socioeconomic factors and policies are associated with educational outcomes for undocumented youth and, in one of the papers, to what extent education and employment outcomes intersect. Guided by the specific questions of each study, the three papers take different theoretical and methodological…

Social determinants of health are the key to understanding and addressing persistent disparities in adolescent pregnancy in the United States. However, there is little guidance on what concrete steps organizations can take to work at the intersection of social determinants of health (SDoH) and sexual and reproductive health (SH). Two…

Neighborhoods constitute a microsystem theorized to be of great importance for immigrant families, with the potential to support and facilitate families' transitions to life in the United States. Yet, few studies examine immigrants' perceptions of their neighborhoods and the extent to which different aspects of these neighborhoods, such as safety…

Hispanics now represent 18.1 percent of the U.S. population, making their labor market outcomes an important economic policy issue. A central question for researchers and policymakers is whether the labor market conditions of Hispanics have improved, stayed the same, or deteriorated in recent decades. To help answer this question, this report…

This article describes the ways positioning theory is used to examine the reading responses of immigrant parents to texts about the contributions of historical figures of nondominant backgrounds. I explain how theories of positioning and identity can inform citizenship and social studies education; in particular, programs serving Latinx and…

Latinx first-generation college students (FGCS) are a growing population faced with unique challenges for college retention and graduation. Because their parents did not attend postsecondary education, this group of college students has not inherited the social or cultural capital common to many traditional college freshmen. Both high school and…