This article examines schooling in the western American state of Colorado during the early twentieth century. Conditions of youth and education are examined at the Walsen coal-mining camp near the town of Walsenburg in the southern region of the state. The experiences of children in the camp are compared to with those living in the town, with a…

This paper uses data from research projects that deliberately set out to tell positive stories about educators who were working with the children and families of migratory agricultural workers in the US. The aim underpinning these projects was to move beyond the deficit discourses and stories of blame that so often circulate, particularly in…

This article provides a portrait of the challenges and promise of Latino schooling in California's agricultural Central Valley, site of one of the largest and socioeconomically vulnerable Latino populations in the nation's most populous state. Through surveys, interviews, and participant observation, we document a multi-year "Placed-Based…

This article reports on one teacher's journey, Nan's, as she struggled to provide appropriate instruction to low-literate day laborers in an English as a second language (ESL) class for adult learners. In her efforts to do so, Nan became inspired to implement alternative pedagogy based on a culturally responsive approach that resonated strongly…

We examine how the community-driven leadership (CDL) of farmworker mothers challenged deficit practices of the local school board, which decided to close the school in the community. CDL is the ability of mothers to activate their community cultural wealth to mobilize their resources in search of better educational opportunities. The mothers…

Seasonal farm workers play an important economic role through their contributions to annual harvests and the fact that they spend income in the community where they sojourn. However, research shows that farm workers and other temporary residents are often socially marginalised in rural communities and feel as though they are outsiders who do not…

Development of a society means the accumulation of improvement of all units of the society whatever it is small or large and important or less important. Needless to say that education goes identical with development. We have a large number of marginal people in different sector and region. Tea garden workers are one of them who are working…

Mexican immigrant farm-worker mothers' class, race, citizenship status, and jurisdictional status of their town in a Northern California community rendered them invisible. However, when the school board decided to close the elementary school the mothers mobilized. Drawing on these mothers' "'fototestimonios" we examine how they, as…

From a critical sociolinguistic perspective, this article investigates the written linguistic practices of 20 labor migrants from heterogeneous backgrounds who organized their life trajectories in an "ethnic" call shop in a marginal neighborhood near Barcelona. This was a late capitalist institution informally providing the undocumented…

Thousands of children and teens labor as migrant farmworkers across the United States. These youngsters, many who are immigrants, face challenges in completing their education and breaking the cycle of agricultural work. Such barriers are influenced by geographic instability, poverty, and sociocultural marginalization. Beyond these factors, and…

Social, economic, educational, and attitudinal data concerning migrant and seasonal farmworkers in 16 states were obtained through personal interviews from January 1978 through February 1979. Responses involving about 84,000 individuals were tabulated for use in program planning, administration, and funding. Data from interviews conducted in the…

This report draws on data from the 1997 Census of Agriculture and the 1998 Current Population Survey earnings microdata file to present information on the patterns of farm labor use and the demographic and employment characteristics of hired farmworkers in the United States. Approximately 875,000 persons 15 years of age and older did hired…

This report presents current information on the characteristics and work patterns of hired laborers who perform crop work in the United States. Information was obtained from interviews with 4,199 workers in 85 counties between October 1, 1996 and September 30, 1998. Chapters 1-3 provide information about the farmworkers themselves, including…

With minor exceptions, the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program is working well and is meeting its legislative mandates. The public-private partnerships that have emerged at the local community level and the strong leadership role assumed by the private sector representatives on the State Job Training Coordinating Councils and Private…

The matter of land and the relationship of black people to land has considerable significance both for the social health of the general society and also for the black community's own welfare. Many of America's current domestic ills were traced to the surge of southern blacks to selected urban areas as the rural southern economy found it could no…