This critical case study exposes the educational realities of Latinos in K-12 public schools in the Western United States from the students’ own perspectives. Issues that are often over simplified and commonly misunderstood are brought to life. Their accounts are then compared with the viewpoints of a range of K-12 teachers on matters of community, learning, race, culture, and school politics.

Winner of a 2005 Critics Choice Award fromThe American Educational Studies Association, this is a groundbreaking collection of oral histories, letters, interviews, and governmental reports related to the history of Latino education in the US. Victoria-María MacDonald examines the intersection of history, Latino culture, and education while simultaneously encouraging undergraduates and graduate students to reexamine their relationship to the world of education and their own histories.

In this collection, local experts use personal narratives and empirical data to explore the history of Mexican American and Puerto Rican education in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. The essays focus on three themes: the historical context of segregated and inferior schooling for Latina/o/x students; the changing purposes and meanings of education for Latina/o/x students from the 1950s through today; and Latina/o/x resistance to educational reforms grounded in neoliberalism. Contributors look at stories of student strength and resistance, the oppressive systems forced on Mexican American women, the criminalization of Puerto Ricans fighting for liberatory education, and other topics of educational significance. As they show, many harmful past practices remain the norm--or have become worse. Yet Latina/o/x communities and students persistently engage in transformative practices shaping new approaches to education that promise to reverberate not only in the city but nationwide. Insightful and enlightening, Latina/o/x Education in Chicago brings to light the ongoing struggle for educational equity in the Chicago Public Schools.

Will the United States have an educational caste system in 2030? Drawing on both extensive demographic data and compelling case studies, this powerful book reveals the depths of the educational crisis looming for Latino students, the nation’s largest and most rapidly growing minority group.Richly informative and accessibly written, The Latino Education Crisis describes the cumulative disadvantages faced by too many children in the complex American school systems, where one in five students is Latino. Many live in poor and dangerous neighborhoods, attend impoverished and underachieving schools, and are raised by parents who speak little English and are the least educated of any ethnic group.The effects for the families, the community, and the nation are sobering. Latino children are behind on academic measures by the time they enter kindergarten. And while immigrant drive propels some to success, most never catch up. Many drop out of high school and those who do go on to college—often ill prepared and overworked—seldom finish.Revealing and disturbing, The Latino Education Crisis is a call to action and will be essential reading for everyone involved in planning the future of American schools.

In Learning to be Latino, Reyes paints a vivid picture of Latino student life, outlining students' interactions with one another, with non-Latino peers, and with faculty, administrators, and the outside community. Reyes identifies the normative institutional arrangements that shape the social relationships relevant to Latino students' lives on these campuses.

Learning from Latino Teachers offers insightful stories and powerful visions in the movement for equitable schools. This compelling book is based on Gilda Ochoa’s in-depth interviews with Latina/o teachers who have a range of teaching experience, in schools with significant Latina/o immigrant populations. The book offers a unique insider's perspective on the educational challenges facing Latina/os. The teachers’ stories offer valuable insights gained from their experiences coming up through the K-12 system as students, and then becoming part of the same system as teachers.

Despite their numbers, Latinos continue to lack full and equal participation in all facets of American life, including education. This book provides a critical discussion of the role that select K–12 educational policies have and continue to play in failing Latino students. The author draws upon institutional, national, and statewide data sets, as well as interviews among students, teachers, and college administrators, to explore the role that public policies play in educating Latino students. The book concludes with specific recommendations that aim to raise achievement, college transition rates, and success among Latino students across the preschool through college continuum. Chapters cover high dropout rates, access to college-preparation resources, testing and accountability, financial aid, the Dream Act, and affirmative action.