Challenging perspectives that often characterize Latinos as ‘at-risk,’ this book takes an ‘asset’ approach, highlighting the favorable linguistic, cognitive, education, and cultural assets Latino children bring to educational settings. An Asset-Based Approach to Latino Education in the United States addresses the increasingly important challenge and opportunity of educating the linguistic and cultural diversity of the growing population of Latino students. The book confronts the educational debate regarding effective instructional practices for Latinos, bilingual education, immigration, and assimilation.
Going beyond just exposing educational inequalities, this volume provides intelligent and pragmatic research-based policy directions and tools for change for U.S. Latino Education and other multicultural contexts.
Garcia's educational model is such that wings are valued only upon gaining roots, that is, building upon one's Hispanic experience and language. Citing the more assimilationist theories of Richard Rodriguez and Linda Chavez as simplistic, Garcia aims to add a little complexity to a theory of Hispanic education in the US, to favor unity along with diversity, not at diversity's expense.
This timely volume challenges the ongoing underrepresentation of Latina women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and highlights resilience as a critical communal response to increasing their representation in degree programs and academic posts. An Asset-Based Approach to Advancing Latina Students in STEM documents the racialized and gendered experiences of Latinas studying and researching in STEM in US colleges, and centers resilience as a critical mechanism in combating deficit narratives. Adopting an asset-based approach, chapters illustrate how Latinas draw on their cultural background as a source of individual and communal strength, and indicate how this cultural wealth must be nurtured and used to inform leadership and policy to motivate, encourage, and support Latinas on the pathway to graduate degrees and successful STEM careers. By highlighting strategies to increase personal resilience and institutional retention of Latina women, the text offers key insights to bolstering diversity in STEM. This text will primarily appeal to academics, scholars, educators, and researchers in the fields of STEM education. It will also benefit those working in broader areas of higher education and multicultural education, as well as those interested in the advancement of minorities inside and outside of academia. Elsa M. Gonzalez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Houston, USA. Frank Fernandez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, USA. Miranda Wilson earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Houston, USA.
Candid and illuminating, this text exposes the educational realities of Latinos (U.S. and foreign-born) in K–12 public schools in the Western United States from the students’ own perspectives. Through the testimonies of students who struggled to graduate from high school, issues that are often oversimplified and commonly misunderstood are brought to life. The students themselves offer pragmatic solutions to reduce the unchanging academic gap among culturally diverse groups. Their accounts are then compared with the viewpoints of a range of K–12 teachers on matters of community, learning, race, culture, and school politics. Examining in depth the question of how to best educate a growing culturally and linguistically diverse student population, this critical case study provides food for thought and provokes reflection on the critical role that human interactions and networking play in attaining one’s dreams and human aspirations. Changes in the Second Edition Updated demographics; New chapter: The Role of the Media in the Transmission of Ideologies Related to Latino Students; Updated conclusions and study implications.
Providing a comprehensive review of rigorous, innovative, and critical scholarship relevant to educational issues which impact Latinos, this Handbook captures the field at this point in time. Its unique purpose and function is to profile the scope and terrain of academic inquiry on Latinos and education. Presenting the most significant and potentially influential work in the field in terms of its contributions to research, to professional practice, and to the emergence of related interdisciplinary studies and theory, the volume is organized around five themes: history, theory, and methodology policies and politics language and culture teaching and learning resources and information. The Handbook of Latinos and Education is a must-have resource for educational researchers, graduate students, teacher educators, and the broad spectrum of individuals, groups, agencies, organizations and institutions sharing a common interest in and commitment to the educational issues that impact Latinos.
Drawing on participatory action research conducted with students, parents, families, and school staff in a Southwest community in the United States, this volume contests the interpretation of the achievement gap for students of Mexican descent in the American education system and highlights asset-based approaches that can facilitate students’ academic success. By presenting the Asset-Based Bicultural Continuum Model (ABC) and demonstrating the applications in a variety of family, school, and community-based initiatives, this volume demonstrates how community and cultural wealth can be harnessed to increase educational opportunities for Latino students. The ABC model offers new strategies which capitalize on the bicultural and linguistic assets rooted in local communities and offers place-based strategies driven by communities themselves in order to be tailored to students’ strengths. The text makes a significant contribution to understanding the social ecology of Latinx students’ experiences and offers a new direction for effective and evidence-based academic and health programs across the United States. This book will be a valuable resource for researchers and academics with an interest in the sociology of education, multicultural education, urban education, and bilingual education. It will be of particular interest to those with a focus on Hispanic and Latino studies.
High-Achieving Latino Students: Successful Pathways Toward College and Beyond addresses a long-standing need for a book that focuses on the success, not failure, of Latino students. While much of the existing research works from a deficit lens, this book uses a strength-based approach to support Latino achievement. Bringing together researchers and practitioners, this unique book provides research-based recommendations from early to later school years on “what works” for supporting high achievement. Praise for High-Achieving Latino Students "This book focuses on an important issue about which we know little. There are many lessons here for both scholars and educators who believe that Latino students can succeed. I congratulate the authors for taking on this timely and significant topic." ~ Guadalupe Valdés, Ph.D., Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor in Education, Stanford University. Author of Con Respeto: Bridging the Distances Between Culturally Diverse Families and Schools "This is a must-read book for leaders in institutions of both K-12 and higher education who want to better understand success factors of Latino students in the US. Using a strength-based framework to understand and support Latino achievement is a new paradigm that must be considered by all." ~ Loui Olivas, Ed.D., President, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education "In addition to being the right book at the right time, these editors should be congratulated for giving us a stellar example of how a research-practice collaboration comes together to produce such a valuable and lasting contribution to the field of school reform and improvement. Those who work in schools, universities, think tanks and policymaking centers have been waiting anxiously for this kind of book, and it’s now here." ~ Carl A. Cohn, Ed.D., Former Executive Director, California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, CA State Board of Education member, and Superintendent "There may not be a silver bullet for solving the so-called problem of Latino underachievement, but well-conceived solutions do exist. This powerful book offers strength- and asset-based frameworks that demonstrate Latino achievement is possible. Read this text to not only get informed, but to also get nurtured and inspired!" ~ Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D., Professor in Education, University of Texas at Austin. Author of Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring
"The purpose of this edited book is to enhance a greater collaborative focus on Latino Educational Leadership throughout the pipeline by inviting both established and up-and-coming scholars who can speak to various aspects related to developing all leaders, as well as, the preparation of Latina/o educational leaders, for serving Latino communities. The impetus for this edited book focus on Latino Educational Leadership primarily stems from the changing demographics of our country. As of 2011, Latina/o student enrollment in K-12 schools reached an all time high, as Latina/os comprised almost "one-quarter (23.9%) of the nation's public school enrollment" (Fry & Lopez, 2012, p. 6). At the postsecondary level, Latina/o student enrollment reached an all time high as well with 18-to 24-year old Latina/os comprising 16.5% of all college enrollments nationwide, a 13.6% increase since 1972 (Fry & Lopez, 2012). Given this enrollment growth, particularly at the K-12 level, there has been an increasing urgency in the field of educational leadership to prepare and support all leaders, but also uniquely Latina/o educational leaders that have rich cultural and linguistic connections to communities, who can understand and meet the needs of Latino students and families"--
