Understanding Latina/o School Pushout: Experiences of Students Who Left School Before Graduating

Indigenous Mexican culture, identity and academic aspirations: results from a community-based curriculum project for Latina/Latino students

“…During post-program interviews, students mentioned talking to their parents about the topics they were learning in the program regarding their culture. This seems significant, as researchers have found that the cultural strengths of Latina/Latino youth often go unrecognized and unvalued in the school system (Luna and Tijerina Revilla 2013;Valenzuela 1999;Yosso 2006). For many Latina/Latino students, ancestral culture can have a negative undertone based on many sources including a history of colonization; however students in the study who were exposed to the positive contributions of their ancestors increased their knowledge and understanding of their ethnic group, belongingness and positive feelings about their culture.…”

“…Participatory Action Research is an evaluation tool that allows local communities to evaluate a local issue and the results are directly applied to the problem at hand. In the case of this study, the Anahuac program was developed as a result of an identified need by local Latina/Latino students who wanted to bring about changes in practices related to the exclusion and subtractive school practices related to the Latina/Latino culture (Luna and Tijerina Revilla 2013). The first author is a Latina who grew up attending the same schools of students in the study and is familiar with the barriers and challenges other Latina/Latino students are facing, therefore the benefits of the rapport established between her and the students provided enhanced understating and communication during the interview sessions.…”

“…That is really nice of people like them to care about us' said a student. Students overwhelmingly made favorable comments about the instructors, which seems of particular importance considering that many Latina/Latino students feel disrespected and undervalued based on their culture by teachers in school (Luna and Tijerina Revilla 2013;Valenzuela 1999) and seldom experience having a Latina/Latino teacher. 'What I liked the most was how the teachers explained things to us.…”

Perceptions of College Among Latina/o Elementary Students

“…Because all the schools in which this study took place are predominantly low income and lack funding for programs that other wealthier school districts possess to entice children to consider college, it is important to seek innovative ways to get children in these areas to consider college as a viable option at an early age. It is urgent for the K-12 system to address the pushout factors identified by scholars (Luna & Revilla, 2013), and rethink the zero tolerance policies (Heilbrun, Cornell, & Lovegrove, 2015), by developing and effectively implementing strategies addressing the vulnerabilities of children with language and cultural barriers as well as undocumented and low socioeconomic status as pointed out by scholars (Abrego, 2006(Abrego, , 2011Chun & Dickson, 2011;Contreras, 2009;Crisp & Nora, 2009;Diaz Strong et al, 2011;Moreno & Gaytán, 2013;Pérez, Cortés, Ramos, & Coronado, 2010;Rouse & Barrow, 2006;Suárez-Orozco et al, 2015;Zarate & Burciaga, 2010). Aside from striving to meet the needs of Latina/o students discussed in this study, schools can implement a variety of creative programs to promote higher education among Latina/o elementary students.…”

Latino educational opportunity in discourse and policy: A critical and policy discourse analysis of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

“…Scholars have documented some of the possible structural and institutional reasons and conditions why Latino students do not matriculate to college that include attending overcrowded schools (Rodriguez, 2008) and receiving poor academic and college counseling (Pearl, 2011). Scholars have also challenged the role that educational institutions play in "pushing out" Latino students from school and suggest that schools themselves contribute to this inequity (Luna & Revilla, 2012).…”