A persistent problem in U.S. educational research has been how to explain the continuing low performance on standardized tests by certain racial and ethnic minority-group students, such as Chicanos. This chapter identifies abusive practices stemming from standardized testing that help to shape school failure among Chicano students, and discusses…

In spring 1994, William Rainey Harper College, in Illinois, conducted a survey of random samples of 250 each of currently enrolled Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Caucasian students to determine their experiences, perceptions, and attitudes regarding the college's multicultural environment. Completed responses were received from 339 students,…

This book provides students, researchers, and practitioners with access to major theoretical and empirical issues in the field of Hispanic psychology. The book is divided into six parts: acculturation and adaptation, ethnic identity and behavior, clinical research and services, health and AIDS research, gender studies research, and education and…

This book describes how "at-risk" Hispanic youth defy the odds and stay in school to earn a high school diploma. Information about success is needed because Hispanic youth drop out at about twice the rate of non-Hispanic Whites. The discussion is based on the results of a 4-year longitudinal study of 100 Hispanic youth labeled at-risk by…

Focusing on the ethnic identity and achievement motivation of adolescents, this book reports on a study of Mexican-origin and Anglo American adolescents and sets it in sociopolitical, theoretical, ethnohistorical, and demographic contexts. The opening chapters examine public malaise over immigration and ethnic diversification in the United States…

The Texas Advisory Committee on Women and Minority Faculty and Professional Staff sought to identify strategies that would increase the number of women and minority faculty and professional staff at institutions of higher education in Texas. The work of the Committee was divided into four subcommittees: (1) Pipeline/Pool; (2) Recruitment; (3)…

Based on oral histories and archival documents, this book reconstructs the unwritten history of the Mexican-origin community of Santa Paula, California. This previously unwritten history contrasts sharply with the official version, which focuses on Anglo American accomplishments and excludes the area's earliest settlers and longest…

In this book written for young people, six young Mexican immigrants tell about their immigration experiences and adaptation to life in the United States. These immigrant youths are 16-20 years old and include both legal and illegal immigrants, high school students and dropouts, and permanent immigrants and those planning to return to Mexico. An…

This document contains statistical tables that show the number of students of each race/ethnicity in Maryland public schools, the total number of professional staff, and the number of teachers employed in each school. Information is provided by school district for each elementary, middle, and secondary school as well as for alternative schools.…

This paper reports the effects of thematically integrated mathematics instruction on achievement, attitudes, and motivation in mathematics among middle school students of Mexican descent. A school-university collaborative effort led to the development and testing of a thematic approach undertaken as a means of contextualizing instruction for…

A study was done to investigate the coupling of perceptions of organizational climate together with the values of students in a multiethnic middle school. The study used data on cultural variables and information on perceptions of organizational climate and values priorities of 617 students from different ethnic groups (Black, White, Hispanic,…

This study sought to identify and analyze critical factors in a Hispanic student's decision to persist or drop out at California state four-year institutions. In-depth telephone interviews with 151 Hispanic American students at five University of California campuses and seven California State University campuses were conducted. The interviews…

This study explored how motivational and achievement factors interact and affect persistence in minority undergraduate engineering students. Study participants were 38 entering Mexican and African American college students in an engineering program at a large, southwestern university in the Fall of 1990. Each student was assigned to a peer…

A study was done to determine whether there were notable differences in the characteristics of Hispanic American students who completed the baccalaureate degree at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University as compared to Hispanic American students who enrolled but did not complete the baccalaureate degree. The study examined…

Project Data Tech targeted Spanish- and Haitian-speaking students of limited English proficiency at a high school in Brooklyn. Students who were admitted scored at or below the 40th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery, were new arrivals into the country, and wanted to join the computer-aided drafting (CAD) or cosmetology programs.…