This research presents the testimonios of Mexicana youth. Through a qualitative research design, this centered on the central question: How does testimonio in the social studies classroom serve as a decolonizing practice and how does this impact Mexicana students? and secondary question: How do Mexicana make meaning and reclaim identity using…

In recent years, the number of Mexican youth moving (back) to Mexico from the US has been steadily growing (Sanchez Garcia & Hamann, 2016; Jensen & Jacobo-Suarez, 2019). The Pew Research Center for Hispanic Studies estimates that between 2009 and 2014, roughly 1 million Mexicans and their families moved from the US to Mexico…

Millions engage in learning a Second Language (L2) using their mobile devices with a wide range of success. Concomitantly, there exists a growing interest in research on the effects of mobile-assisted language learning and predictors of learner outcomes (e.g., Loewen et al., 2020; Sudina & Plonsky, 2023). However, few of these apps and studies…

According to the PEW Research Center (2014), Texas' Hispanic population comprises 39% of its overall population, twice the U. S. Hispanic population. Texas Education Agency (TEA) predicts a 14% increase in the next seven years, with a surge of about 40% in its English Language Learners (ELLs) population. Already, it reports Texas experienced a 20%…

From a sociocultural perspective, identity is understood as constructed through active negotiations with others (Gee, 2006; Lantolf, 2009). Language constitutes a mediation tool used to create meanings in new social and cultural contexts as individuals become members of new communities of practice (CoP). In doing so, an ongoing process of sharing…

Taking a sociocultural perspective, this qualitative case study aims to contribute, investigate, and understand how young Mexican American emergent bilingual learners engage in early science experiences. Furthermore, the study focuses on how the students manifested their knowledge, understanding, and perceptions about science and its…

African American students are underperforming in public education. Unfortunately, a lack of literacy achievement is at the forefront of this issue. Within the area of literacy, writing scores of African American children are plummeting across the nation on standardized assessments. The present study was designed to inform classroom practices about…

An achievement gap between Anglo and Mexican American students is profound in many school districts. The lack of academic vocabulary that many Mexican American students possess is a major constituent that contributes to this educational gap. Conversely, children who enter school with limited vocabulary find reading, difficult, resist reading,…

The United States has been experiencing an ever-growing increase in the last few decades of English Language Learner students (ELLs) whose primary language is Spanish and who are of Mexican descent. At the same time, the teaching force in the country remains strongly homogeneously White, English-speaking, and female. This creates an inequitable…

This dissertation project examines the implementation of a critical reading intervention in a Mexican university, and the emergence of target critical reading processes in Mexican college-level EFL readers. It uses a Complexity Theory-inspired, qualitative methodology. Orienting the selection and design of materials is a deep view of culture that…

Science education reform in the United States has been slow to reduce the troubling science achievement gap between students from mainstream and non-mainstream backgrounds. Recent data suggest the gap persists in spite of improved attention to the multicultural education of teachers, and in spite of recent, more culturally inclusive and responsive…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the role of "la familia" for women of Mexican descent as it relates to their development as leaders and their leadership in academia. Purposeful sampling was utilized to reach the goal of 18 participants who were female academic leaders of Mexican descent teaching full time in…

An increase in the Mexican American population within the predominantly African American community and school was the basis of this qualitative study. The purpose of the study was to introduce African American second grade students to authentic Mexican and Mexican American children's literature. Interactive read-alouds of nonfiction and realistic…

The purpose of this study was to examine constructivist-based algebra lessons and a cooperative construct to address the achievement gap between White (non-Hispanic) and Mexican American 8th grade students at a southern California middle school. The lessons were designed to facilitate social interdependence which promoted peer-to-peer interaction…

English for Academic Purposes literature is often criticized for its very functional interpretation of language (e.g. Benesch, 2001) which ignores the intellectual, cultural, and social side of learning in an attempt to appear "neutral." Furthermore, writing is the EAP skill area which seems to provide students with the most difficulty.…