This article focuses on the intersections among language, literacy, and culture, and what these intersections have meant for the author personally, and what they can mean for students who have been marginalized, neglected, or made invisible by traditional understandings of the role of education. Although not linked conceptually in the past, the…

Offers advice for public librarians serving a Puerto Rican population regarding selection of appropriate material, outreach to the community, and detailed programming for a Latino Heritage Week. An extensive resource list for librarians seeking appropriate children's books and professional materials is included. (GR)

Explores research on Puerto Rican students in U.S. schools in combination with fiction by Puerto Ricans. Identifies four themes: colonialism/resistance, cultural deficit/cultural acceptance, assimilation/identity, and marginalization/belonging. Asserts that care is the missing ingredient in the education of Puerto Ricans. (SK)

A study was done to examine the reasons why Puerto Rican youth from the Holyoke (Massachusetts) Public School System drop out of high school and the effect of dropping out of school on the Latino community. The study was conducted using data provided by the Holyoke School Department and drawn from Students' cumulative folders and school district…

In this article, Sonia Nieto, professor of language, literacy, and culture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Patrick M. Jenlink, editor of "Teacher Education & Practice," engage in conversation focused on the meaning and importance of affirming diversity in schools. Dr. Nieto has taught students at all levels, from…

A three stage study was conducted in order to select and test procedures for involving Puerto Rican parents in decision making for elementary school bilingual curricula. The first stage of the study focused on literature reviews that investigated the influence of the family on achievement and intelligence, cultural characteristics of Puerto Rican…

As subjects of numerous studies and research reports since the 1930s, Puerto Ricans in U.S. mainland schools have been portrayed as problems, as losers or disadvantaged, and as potentially at risk. This chapter documents the difficult educational history of Puerto Ricans, who have been in U.S.-controlled schools even in Puerto Rico since 1898, to…