Relevant Publications by NLERAP participants (nation-wide)

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Successful Pathways To The Teaching Profession For Puerto Ricans

by Carmen I. Mercado

In Fall 2011 Vol. 13, (11) Issue of Centro Journal (click here)

This article makes program and policy recommendations for the design of effective pathways to teaching careers for Puerto Ricans that combine college readiness with workforce development in sectors where there are opportunities for entry-level employment with minimal
credentials and opportunity for advancement at a salary above the minimum wage. The pathways target vulnerable members of the Puerto Rican community, such as young
males, ages 16 to 24, who are in high school, unemployed, or employed in low-wage industries [Key words: Puerto Rican communities, pathways, teaching careers, youth,
low-income, economic mobility]

PDF version of article available: Carmen Mercado CENTRO Pathways article

For Fall 2011 Vol. 13, (11) Issue of Centro Journal go here

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The Latinization of U.S. Schools: Successful Teaching and Learning in Shifting Cultural Contexts

by Jason G. Irizarry

Fueled largely by significant increases in the Latino population, the racial, ethnic, and linguistic texture of the United States is changing rapidly. Nowhere is this “Latinization” of America more evident than in schools. Dramatic population growth among Latinos in the United States in recent decades has not been accompanied by similar sizeable gains in the academic achievement of this group. Data regarding the academic achievement of Latino students are alarming. Estimates suggest that approximately half of Latino students fail to complete high school, and too few enroll in and complete college. As educators, researchers, and policymakers search for solutions to address the underachievement of Latino youth in schools, they often ignore the perspectives of those most directly affected by the problem—namely Latino youth themselves.

In contrast, The Latinization of U.S. Schools moves beyond general statistical portraits and centers on the voices of youth to critically examine how a group of Latino students makes meaning of policies and practices within schools, such as tracking and the virtual exclusion of Latinos from the curriculum. These perspectives, although often suppressed within schools, expose an inequitable opportunity structure that results in depressed academic performance for many Latino youth. Perhaps most significant, each chapter concludes with empirically based recommendations for educators seeking to improve their practice with Latino youth stemming from a multiyear participatory action research project conducted by Irizarry and the student contributors to the text.

Jason G. Irizarry is an Assistant Professor of Multicultural Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education, and he is Faculty Associate in the Institute for Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at the University of Connecticut.

From Paradigm Press

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Latino Education: An Agenda For Community Action Research (National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project)

Pedro Pedraza & Melissa Rivera (Eds.)

Available at Amazon.com

 

This landmark volume represents the work of the National Latino/a Education Research Agenda Project (NLERAP)-an initiative focused on school reform and educational research with and for Latino communities. NLERAP’s goal is to bring together various constituencies within the broad Latino community who are concerned with public education to articulate a Latino perspective on research-based school reform, and to use research as a guide to improving the public school systems that serve Latino students and to maximizing their opportunities to participate fully and equally in all social, economic, and political contexts of society. Latino Education: An Agenda for Community Action Research conceptualizes and illustrates the theoretical framework for the NLERAP agenda and its projects. This framework is grounded in three overlapping areas of scholarship and activism, which are reflected within the chapters in this volume: critical studies, illuminating and analyzing the status of people of color in the United States; Latino/a educational research, capturing the sociohistorical, cultural, and political schooling experiences of U.S. Latino/a communities; and participatory action research, exemplifying a liberation-oriented methodology for truly transformative education. The volume includes both descriptive educational research and critical analyses of previous research and educational agendas related to Latino/a communities in the United States. According to current U.S. Census data, Latinos now comprise the largest minority group in the total U.S. population. Historically, reflecting larger sociohistorical and economic inequalities in U.S. society, the Latino community has not been well served by U.S. public school systems. More attention to the Latino students’ educational issues is needed to redress this problem, especially given the tremendous population increase and projected growth of Latino communities in the U.S. Latino Education: An Agenda for Community Action Research is a major contribution toward this goal.

 

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