Offers brief descriptions of 16 books in English (published in 1997 and 1998) about Latino people and cultures. Arranges these noteworthy books into five broad areas: fiction, history, literature, poetry, and sociology. (SR)

This study examined the perceptions and practices concerning home literacy activities of 80 Hispanic parents (40 with children with learning disabilities). Although Hispanic parents of children with learning disabilities reported regularly using a wide variety of reading and writing activities, they also reported experiencing frustration in their…

Provides background on and discusses the significance of Proposition 227, the California ballot initiative designed to reform the state's bilingual-education program that was approved by voters in 1998. Reactions to its approval by California voters are provided by Ron Unz, Stephen Krashen, and Mauro Mujica. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes health indicators for Latinas in rural and urban California. Discusses Latina demographics; causes of death; life expectancy; and profiles for breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and AIDS. Examines Latina risk factors: poverty, high dropout rates, lack of health insurance, obesity, physical inactivity, low levels of…

Argues that books in Spanish can engage Spanish-speaking students in the reading process, and that fostering the love of reading is a necessary first step to reading proficiency in any language. Offers brief descriptions of 16 recently published books in Spanish, and describes a large database of recommended books for children and adolescents in…

Discusses possible effects of California's new remediation policy on disadvantaged students attending the state's public universities. The policy requires freshmen to successfully complete remediation courses within a year of enrollment and is intended to blend compassion with tough standards. Although more freshmen are completing remedial…

Argues that the current emphasis on the future economic worth of low-income, inner-city children is often inappropriate, because it tends to view them as economic units, some of whom may end up a burden to society while others have only limited utility. The paper suggests that these children have great value now and unlimited potential for the…

Offers reflections (by Nicholasa Mohr, writer of children's, young adult, and adult literature) upon how she learned to read and how reading gave her a sense of freedom, as well as pride in her own Puerto Rican heritage, in spite of the nonacceptance and contempt she experienced in school. (SR)

Describes a 12-week Humanities Out There (HOT) partnership with a class of juniors characterized by their ordinariness in a predominantly Latino school district. Concludes that many students, who would not have considered going to college because they believed themselves academically unprepared, began to identify the university as their goal as…

Describes a graduate program in school leadership at Northeastern Illinois University that is intended to meet the administrative and leadership needs of Hispanic teachers in Chicago. The master's degree program is offered as part of the university's El Centro outreach center for the Hispanic-American community and offers collaborative…

Describes the impact of a multi-ethnic, multicultural program, designed to immerse students in Mexican culture as a means of combating ignorance of and violence against members of ethnic groups at Fairfield University. Interviews, pretests and post-tests, and participant observations are used to determine whether the training program was…

Focuses on Latina mothers' well-being and the effects of having a mentally retarded child. Results, based on 148 mothers with and 101 without children with mental retardation, show that the former exhibited significantly higher levels of depressive symptomatology relative to controls. Depression was predicted by low family cohesion and other…

Examines the earnings gap between Mexican, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White male workers resulting from changes in both wage structure and immigration law in the 1980s. Results suggest that Mexican-American and Hispanic-American workers were adversely affected by these changes. Data from a national survey show how workers minimized the negative…

Investigated whether self-esteem preceded various academic behaviors and beliefs among high school students. Surveys of sociodemographics, educational plans, perceived academic progress, relative academic standing, and school and home self-esteem indicated that student academic performance influenced subsequent school and home self-esteem.…

Focus groups were used to examine mother-daughter communication about sexuality among urban African American and Latina mothers and daughters from 2 age groups: 6 to 9 years, and 10 to 13 years. Analyses indicated that beneficial communication may be preempted by the antagonistic positions adopted by daughters and mothers as daughters advance…