This critical qualitative study examines the ways first-generation Students of Color (Latina/o/x, African American, Native American, and biracial) at two predominantly White institutions in the Midwest activate their college knowledge, or cultural capital, to assist youth from their communities in viewing higher education as a viable option. In…

A large gap exists between the percentage of teachers and of students who are Hispanic. To better understand this gap, we compared Hispanic and White preservice teachers' motivations for becoming teachers and perceptions of the teaching profession during their application to a large traditional teacher certification program at a Hispanic-serving…

Freire (2005) encourages people to take "critical ownership of the formation of ourselves" (p. 44) in order to be able to act upon the world in what he (1993) calls "praxis." This praxis consists of the development of critical consciousness leading to transformative action. Critical consciousness and praxis should be conceived…

Latino parents have lower levels of school involvement compared to other ethnic groups, which is often attributed--though not tested--to low English language proficiency. Using a population-based sample of 637 7th grade Latino youth attending an urban school district, we find no significant difference in maternal school involvement when mothers…

This article describes how preservice teachers and Latinx students can collaborate to effect change in the way that K-12 educators support students from traditionally marginalized groups. We build on the concept of funds of knowledge to demonstrate how situating traditionally marginalized students in positions of expertise as funds of knowledge…

Prior research suggests that parents of Hispanics, English learners, and students living in poverty exercise school choice less frequently than other parents, which may be a factor in the resegregation of public schools. This quasi-experimental, causal-comparative design tests whether ethnicity, language dominance, or socioeconomic status of the…

Situated in an increasingly hostile political climate toward traditionally marginalized individuals, including those with Latinx identity, our study uses systemic functional linguistics to examine language choices authors make in regards to conflict and contention between Latinxs and the United States across three different 11th-grade U.S. history…

Latinx students are a growing population in postsecondary education but attain degrees at a pace behind their non-Latinx peers. This research examines a partnership between a research university (RU) and career and technical education (CTE) high school, Hillside Technical High School (HTHS). Through a 2-year ethnographic case study, we found that…

Sociopolitical development refers to the processes by which an individual acquires the knowledge, skills, and commitment to analyze and challenge oppressive social forces. A growing body of scholarship reports that high levels of sociopolitical development are predictive in adolescents of a number of key outcomes including resilience and civic…

Low-income and racial/ethnic minority children are at increased risk of experiencing summer reading loss or declined reading levels due to time away from school. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 6-week summer reading program would help children maintain or improve reading levels. Four-hundred-fourteen African American and…

This qualitative case study examined the creation process and final artifacts of two biliteracy family projects that children and families from Mexican immigrant backgrounds collaboratively created as part of classroom instruction. Data were collected during five months in a first grade bilingual classroom with 22 students and centered on six…

In Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) models, the reading achievement of English Learners (ELs) is assessed multiple times during the school year to monitor students' progress toward meeting grade-level reading standards. Most MTSS/RTI frameworks do not include a comparable system for assessing oral language…

Research suggests there are potential benefits to students when taught by instructors who share the same gender and/or race/ethnicity. While underrepresented students have shown increased persistence and academic performance when they were taught by gender- and/or race/ethnicity-congruent faculty, there is little research that has explored the…

This study aims to examine how historical and contemporary traumas, refugee experiences, and cultural adjustment affect first-generation Salvadoran students' identities and experiences in higher education. Thirteen Salvadoran college students completed a demographic survey and a semistructured interview. Using grounded theory methodology, three…

Chicanos/Latinos comprise the largest racial and ethnic population in the U.S. public K-12 schools, yet hold some of the largest rates of academic underperformance in high school and college completion. This study aims at understanding the academic trajectories of five Chicano/Latino males and their decision to enlist in the military after high…